Sandra Fagil Fraga joined the Arona Prosecutor’s Office in 2018, and honestly, his credentials looked pretty solid. Originally from La Coruña, he made his way to the Public Ministry at just 30 years old. Initially, he was stationed in Gerona before moving on to the Special Prosecutor against Corruption and Organised Crime in Madrid. Then, he ended up in Arona. It’s in the south of Tenerife where the National Police’s Internal Affairs Unit has turned its attention to him and the cases he’s supposedly handling. His job, in theory, should involve upholding the law, but Internal Affairs suspects he’s become entwined in a drug trafficking and business corruption network led by Mohamed Jamil Derbah. There are claims that Fagil Fraga may have switched allegiances and, allegedly, assisted Derbah with his criminal enterprises revolving around cannabis clubs in southern Tenerife.
However, these places weren’t really just marijuana consumption associations, as the police have pointed out. Instead, hidden within their walls was a much larger operation: the distribution of cocaine and heroin across Tenerife. Arona and Adeje emerged as the epicentres, precisely the areas Fagil Fraga was overseeing from the Public Ministry.
The National Police, as reported by THE PROVINCE/DIARY OF Las Palmas, is investigating whether Fagil Fraga was working for the Lebanese businessman during the establishment of these businesses, which were ostensibly set up as cannabis clubs but served as a front for hard drug activities.
But it doesn’t stop there. He spent five years leading the territorial section in Arona, until 2024, when he took on an anti-drug specialist role in Tenerife, which coincided with his last stretch on the island. This was also the final professional chapter for his associate, Francisco Moar, who had been the Chief of the Judicial Police Brigade of Tenerife until 2023 and served as the Head of the Drug and Organised Crime Unit (UDYCO) until he retired at the end of last year. Now, he too is in custody as one of eight members of Derbah’s criminal network.
The prosecutor is a partner of Francisco Moar, who has been detained in connection with this criminal network
The year 2024 is crucial for this case. It marks the period when the National Police initiated investigations against the Lebanese businessman and certain southern Tenerife officers who allegedly benefited from inside information—Moar, along with the Head of Citizen Security and a Judicial Police Subinspector. They were reportedly tipping Derbah off about any investigations into him, even informing the Prosecutor’s Office.
According to an Internal Affairs report revealed by El Mundo, “The prosecutor would be participating in the criminal acts under investigation, as her actions related to judicial cases of interest to Derbah would be favouring the interests of the criminal organisation.” The police argue that these reports document how derbah’s businesses received leniencies, in some cases avoiding imprisonment altogether. They mention “repeated criminal behaviours” with “economic gain” and conclude that there’s a concerning likelihood of the prosecutor’s involvement in the events.
Documents indicate that Fagil Fraga dictated favourable fiscal measures for the alleged drug traffickers, clearly benefiting Derbah and his employees. The police believe that some of his decisions led to investigations tied to drug trafficking in Tenerife.
Despite these serious allegations, the prosecutor—who since November has taken a position in the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of La Coruña, where he lives with Moar—is not currently facing charges in the case due to his professional status. Interestingly, police found 145 grams of cocaine at his home.
With so many hurdles in place, the South Police of Tenerife still managed to shut down more than 110 cannabis clubs in Adeje and Arona over just three months last year. Most were reportedly linked to Derbah and his associates, who raised concerns about police pressure and even reached out to Gustavo Matos for assistance. These associations were raking in up to 200,000 euros a day; six million a month, based on anti-drug experts’ estimates. A business of that scale simply couldn’t be ignored. Derbah attempted to resist the crackdown, but since May 1, he’s been locked up, accused of being the head of the criminal organisation that allegedly aimed to control the South through drug trafficking.
