Nicki Minaj arrested by Dutch police for alleged drug possession

UPI (May 25) — Police in the Netherlands released Nicki Minaj on Saturday after arresting the rapper over a luggage incident.

Minaj, 41, was traveling to Manchester, England from Amsterdam for a concert on her “Pink Friday 2” world tour, which was scheduled to take place at the Co-op Live Arena on Saturday night.

The rapper shared a video on her X account on Saturday afternoon where we see a man telling her that her luggage needs to be searched.

In a separate video that Minaj recorded on Instagram Live and then shared by fan accounts on X, she asked an Amsterdam police officer why she was arrested.

The officer in the video responded, “because you’re carrying drugs.”

The rapper in the video denied carrying drugs and repeatedly asked for a lawyer when the officer told him to get into a vehicle.

The officer could be heard talking about his Saturday night concert and saying they would “try to get him there” as soon as possible.

A Dutch police spokesperson told NBC News that they “arrested a 41-year-old American woman at Schiphol Airport for possession of soft drugs.”

A few hours later, Co-op Live posted on X that the opening of the doors to Minaj's concert had been delayed from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Around 2 p.m., MDT said they released Minaj.

“After consultation with the public prosecutor, the suspect was fined and can continue her journey,”

The incident, however, forced Co-op Live to postpone Saturday's concert.

“Despite Nicki's best efforts to explore all possible avenues for tonight's show to take place, today's events have made that impossible,” the company said on X. “We are deeply disappointed by the inconvenience this has caused.”

Tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled performance, which will be announced at a later date, the company said.

Earlier Saturday, Minaj addressed X in a series of messages accusing the airport of “doing everything they can to TRY to stop this tour.”

“Now they said they found some weed and another group of people had to come here to weigh the pre-rolls,” one post read. “Keep in mind that they took my luggage without my consent. My security has already told them that these pre-rolls belong to him. Oh yeah, and the pilot wants me to delete my post on IG.

Possession of marijuana is legal in Amsterdam, provided a person has no more than 5 grams on them, according to the Dutch government website.