EXCLUSIVE: Humza Yousaf’s brother-in-law charged with drug offences

Humza Yousaf’s brother-in-law has been charged by police in connection with drug offences, The Sunday Post can exclusively reveal.

Ramsay El-Nakla, 36, was traced by officers following a report of a break-in on Balmoral Gardens in Dundee on Thursday evening.

A 50-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman were also arrested and charged, and will appear at Dundee Sheriff Court on Monday.

All three have been charged with drug offences.

The first minister refused to comment last night when approached by The Sunday Post.

His wife, Nadia El-Nakla, a psychotherapist and Dundee councillor, also refused to discuss the matter.

She said: “I don’t have any comment just now.

“Let’s see what happens in the next few days.”

What do police say?

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officers were called to a report of a break-in at a property on Balmoral Gardens in Dundee during the evening of Thursday, January 11.

“Three people – two men, aged 50 and 36, and a 41-year-old woman – were traced and all have been arrested and charged in connection with drug offences.

“All three are due to appear at Dundee Sheriff Court on Monday, January 15, 2024.”

Yousaf, a former justice and health secretary, was often on the frontline of Scotland’s fight against drug deaths before becoming first minister.

In August, Nadia wrote of completing a two-year placement at a counselling service for those with addiction issues.

She said: “I worked with clients suffering from addiction and their families. I began to understand the complex struggle my clients were experiencing.

“For them, time stood still when battling against the overwhelming desire to escape trauma and pain and lose themselves into a world where the pain was temporarily gone.

“Addiction can befall anyone. I know first-hand the effect addiction has on a family and the stark reality is these drug death statistics could have included a loved one of my own.”

Family’s turmoil over Gaza threat

Another of Nadia’s brothers, emergency room doctor Mohammed, remains trapped in Gaza after other family members were able to flee the war with Israel to Turkey.

She has been leading calls for a resettlement scheme similar to that offered to Ukrainian refugees, describing the ongoing conflict as a “genocide in real time”.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron threatened to withdraw co-operation with Scottish ministers after Humza Yousaf met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan without a UK official present and discussed the war.

Turkey placed Mohammed’s family on a list of refugees it was willing to accept after the first lady of Turkey, Emine Erdogan, invited Nadia to attend a summit of leaders’ spouses in Istanbul.

But his name was removed by the Turkish administration, meaning the emergency doctor must remain in the war-torn region alongside his 93-year-old grandmother, who requires round-the-clock care.

Nadia’s parents – Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla – were in Gaza visiting relatives at the time of the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and the subsequent retaliation.

They were trapped with limited supplies for almost a month before being granted permission to leave through Egypt along with other British nationals.

They returned to Dundee but remain “traumatised” by their experience and have now travelled to Turkey to support their daughter-in-law.

Meanwhile, Nadia said her brother continues to work in dangerous circumstances.

“There’s nothing I can say to comfort him,” she told the Guardian newspaper.

“I said to him remember the line from the Koran that says with difficulty comes ease, and that ease should come soon. He replied: ‘I say that line about 100 times a day.’

“They’re just so tired of it. There’s no respite.”