Businessman Mohamed Derbah Arrested in Tenerife: From Drug Trafficking to 'Noah's Ark'

The Lebanese businessman, Mohamed Derbah, was arrested on April 30 in the south of Tenerife. The operation was carried out by agents of the National Police's Internal Affairs Unit and resulted in seven arrests. Derbah remains in communicated detention without bail, according to elcierredigital.com.

Derbah, leader of the Fuerza Canaria party in Arona, worked as head of security for the British businessman John Palmer in Tenerife. He did so in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2001, he was arrested by Judge Baltasar Garzón in the so-called "Operation Cedar," along with 18 other people, including police officers. He was accused of participating in a timeshare apartment fraud. He spent several months in prison, as did Palmer, but was released due to lack of evidence.

In the framework of the operation, which investigates alleged crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, drug trafficking, bribery, and money laundering, the former head of the Provincial Judicial Police Brigade of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Francisco Moar, was also arrested.

The latter, arrested in A Coruña, was the one who initiated the investigation of the Mediator case. Along with him, two other police officers were arrested.

Before arresting Derbah, the agents searched the La Ponderosa Aparthotel, located in Adeje. This establishment was allegedly linked to Derbah through the company Bares y Restaurantes Sur S.L., founded by him in 2018.

According to public tenders from the Government of the Canary Islands during the pandemic, this company is listed as the owner of the accommodation.

It should be noted that the rest of the detainees have been released on provisional liberty.

La Ponderosa and the 'Noah's Ark' Program

According to information obtained by elcierredigital.com, La Ponderosa received a total of 955,720 euros between 2020 and 2022. The reason was to house quarantined immigrants during COVID-19. The price per person per day was 45 euros.

The contracts were made on an emergency basis and approved by the Government of the Canary Islands. All this, under the presidency of Ángel Víctor Torres, current Minister of Territorial Policy. The payment orders were directed to Bares y Restaurantes Sur S.L. and Viajes al Paraíso Canarias S.L., both owners of La Ponderosa.

According to resolutions from the Tenerife Area Director of the Canary Health Service (SCS), in possession of this medium, these tenders were framed in the program called "Noah's Ark." The company Bares y Restaurantes Sur S.L., founded in July 2018 in Adeje by Mohamed Derbah as sole administrator, was directly awarded.

In April 2020, at the start of the pandemic, Derbah transferred the administration of Bares y Restaurantes Sur S.L. to Yeray Martín Melián. He is listed as the sole administrator during the contracting period. The company received 9 public contracts and payments from the SCS totaling 491,702 euros between 2020 and 2021.

Initially, the SCS payment orders were directed to Bares y Restaurantes Sur S.L. as it acted as the responsible party for housing the immigrants of the Noah's Ark project. An SCS resolution includes three contracts for 269,686 euros and another six tenders for 222,016 euros. In total, 491,702 euros.

However, between October 2021 and March 2022, the SCS registered a change. The ownership of the La Ponderosa Aparthotel passed to Viajes al Paraíso Canarias S.L.

This company was founded in April 2021 in Abades, in the south of Tenerife, by journalist Félix Rojas, who is listed as the sole administrator. The company's corporate purpose is the rental of vehicles with or without a driver.

Despite this, it received from the Government of the Canary Islands - in just six months - seven contracts for 464,018 euros. Rojas managed the company that became the owner of La Ponderosa to house immigrants from the Noah's Ark program.

Elcierredigital.com revealed that Rojas also has a family relationship with the former Health Minister of the Canary Government, Teresa Cruz, from the PSOE. Cruz appeared in the investigation commissions on COVID-19 health material in the Senate and the Parliament of the Canary Islands. In both, she defended Torres's management and criticized that of the former SCS director, Conrado Domínguez.

However, it was Domínguez who awarded the contracts to Félix Rojas's company during Torres's mandate. Currently, Domínguez is being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office in the cases of Damco and RR7 masks, also revealed by this medium.

La Ponderosa, the Only "Suitable" Accommodation

Yeray Martín Melián, sole administrator of Bares y Restaurantes Sur S.L. between 2020 and 2022, ran in the local elections of May 2019 in the municipality of Arona. He did so for the party Europeos por Canarias (ExC). His LinkedIn profile lists him as a health emergency technician and director of the Amanecer Senior Center in Tenerife.

In an SCS resolution from 2022, regarding health audits and inspections between October 2020 and 2021, La Ponderosa was the only accommodation rated as "suitable" in hygienic-sanitary conditions. The evaluation was carried out by the Area Directorates and the General Directorate of Public Health.

In contrast, the Amanecer Senior Residence — also managed by Bares y Restaurantes — did not pass the inspection. Neither did Tenebrava-3 S.L. (Granada Park Apartments) nor Barceló Arrendamientos Hoteleros (Hotel Occidental Santa Cruz Contemporáneo). Meeting Point Hotel Management S.L. (Labranda Bahía Fañabé & Villas) only obtained the "suitable" rating after a second inspection.

The audits required rigorous conditions: potable water, legionella prevention, vector and pest control, compliance with COVID-19 measures, cleaning, ventilation, waste management, and food supply for sick or quarantined people.

The Torres Government Knew About the Awards to La Ponderosa

Ángel Víctor Torres's government was informed of the Noah's Ark program contracts made by the former SCS director, Conrado Domínguez. This emergency declaration was communicated to the regional government in the session of March 25, 2021.

This is stated in an official document from the Presidency of the Government of the Canary Islands, dated February 1, 2023, accessed by elcierredigital.com.

It includes Noah's Ark program awards for 709,244.99 euros. Among the beneficiary companies are Bares y Restaurantes Sur S.L., with 64,424 euros in August 2021, and Viajes al Paraíso Canarias S.L., with 464,018 euros.

Also listed as awardees: Spanish Red Cross (105,368 euros for maintenance), Meeting Point Hotel Management (12,850 euros for accommodation and maintenance), and Eulen Servicios Sociosanitarios S.A. (45,603 euros for accompaniment and follow-up).