Nicki Minaj in custody in Amsterdam after being arrested on drug charges hours before her Manchester show

Singer Nicki Minaj is in police custody in Amsterdam after being arrested after drugs were allegedly found in her luggage just hours before her concert in Manchester, according to a spokesperson for the Dutch border police.

“Right now she is in custody,” said Robert van Kapel, a spokesman for the Royal Dutch Marechaussee, the border police in charge of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. The independent.

Although Kapel did not name Minaj, who posted live on Instagram as Amsterdam police attempted to arrest her, he said he “can confirm that we arrested a 41-year-old American woman because we carried out a check at Schiphol airport and found soft drugs with her and it is illegal to export soft drugs to the Netherlands.

Minaj is 41 years old. The Netherlands classifies marijuana, which is legal in the country, as “soft drugs” and Minaj revealed in her video that her bag contained pre-rolled joints that she believed belonged to someone else.

“Right now she is being questioned and we are investigating,” Kapel said. He specified that following the police investigation, they will be in contact with the prosecution who will then decide whether to file a complaint or not.

In Minaj's Instagram video, a manager can be heard saying they wanted to arrest her for “transporting drugs,” an allegation she denied.

An official told Minaj that her bags were initially subject to a “rapid, random check” but that police wanted to do a full search. When asked why, she was told that a police officer “doesn't believe you don't have more with you than you say,” noting that his decision to film the search had made the officer suspicious.

Minaj initially refused to accompany the police.

“I’m not going into that. I need a lawyer,” she told the police officer.

After some back and forth, Minaj finally gives in and gets into a police cruiser.

While being transported, she told police she was worried she wouldn't be able to attend her next show. The agent assured him that they would “try to get [her] there” as soon as possible.

The encounter with police took place during Minaj's Pink Friday 2 world tour. She has a show scheduled for Saturday night in Manchester, England, and performed the day before in Amsterdam, the first stop on her European tour.

On Saturday, Ms. Minaj provided some details about her meeting; she said police “said they found some weed and another group of people had to come here to weigh the pre-rolls” – referring to pre-rolled marijuana joints that are typically purchased in stores .

“Keep in mind that they took my luggage without my consent. My security already told them that these pre-rolls belonged to him,” she wrote on X. “Oh yes, and the pilot wants me to take my luggage.” [Instagram] post it down.”