Police arrest Nicki Minaj for allegedly carrying drugs hours before sold-out show

The American rapper has been arrested at an airport in Amsterdam for allegedly carrying drugs, just hours before her sold-out show in the UK.

Nicki Minaj was arrested in Amsterdam on Saturday for allegedly carrying drugs — despite the US musician’s repeated insistence that she had no contraband, according to Instagram Live footage she posted of the incident.

The 41-year-old rapper was detained on suspicion of “possessing soft drugs” at Schiphol airport while travelling from Amsterdam to Manchester for her Pink Friday 2 Tour show, The Guardian reports.

One official said that they wanted to take the Super Bass rapper into custody for “carrying drugs,” the video showed, according to New York Post.

Minaj was set to hit the stage at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena on Saturday night, with fans arriving at the venue before it was postponed at the last minute.

The official Twitter account for Dutch military, Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, tweeted around 5.45am Australian time, 9.45pm local time, that a 41-year-old American woman had just been released.

The flight to Manchester from Amsterdam is just over an hour, with Minaj unable to make it to the stage on time.

“Despite Nicki’s best efforts to explore every possible avenue to make tonight’s show happen, the events of today have made it impossible,” a statement posted by the Co-op Live arena read.

“We are deeply disappointed by the inconvenience this has caused.”

Nicki Minaj has been arrested in Amsterdam. Picture: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for MTV

Dutch military said Minaj was hit with a fine.

“We have just released a 41-year-old American woman who we arrested this afternoon at Schiphol on suspicion of exporting soft drugs,” the statement read.

“After consultation with the Public Prosecution Service, the suspect was fined and can continue her journey.”

Earlier, in video posted by Minaj, the rapper could be heard telling an officer, “I’m not going in there. I need a lawyer present.”

The officer also mentioned her concert scheduled for Saturday night in Manchester, England, and said they would “try to get [her] there” as soon as possible. “Oh, so I’m under arrest?” Minaj asked, while multiple officers repeatedly asked her to stop filming.

In a second video, Minaj appeared to be seated inside a vehicle while speaking to a uniformed man about the plans to go through all her bags.

“Why didn’t you guys search it before they went on the plane?” she asked.

Minaj was released from custody as her concert was scheduled to begin in Manchester. Picture: Getty Images.

The man shrugged and said that the previous officer did not believe the rap star was not carrying drugs — and was miffed that she had filmed him.

Asked about Minaj, Robert van Kapel, a spokesperson for the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, told NBC News: “We can confirm that we have arrested a 41-year-old American woman at Schiphol airport because of possession of soft drugs.”

Dutch military police added it was prohibited to take such substances out of the Netherlands.

Police did not confirm the suspect’s name but said she was still in custody pending an investigation.

It was not immediately clear if Minaj was actually booked at a police station.

“Now they said they found weed & that another group of ppl have to come here to weigh the pre-rolls,” Minaj wrote on X.

“Keep in mind they took my bags without consent. My security has already advised them those pre-rolls belong to him. Oh yea & the pilot wants me to take my ig post down,” she added.

The rapper went on to lament that her plane was being held up by at least two hours.

A few hours later, the Manchester arena announced that the doors opening for Minaj’s concert would be delayed by 30 minutes to 7pm local time — prompting a flurry of fans to reply asking for a guarantee that it would go on as planned.

“but nicki was arrested in amsterdam, are you sure that the show will continue to go on tonight, or will it get postponed? please be honest,” one user wrote.

“If this isn’t happening just let us know now … why waste people travelling for it to be cancelled…?” another replied.

Nicki Minaj livestreamed the interaction with police. Picture: Instagram

One official said that they wanted to take the “Bang Bang” rapper into custody for “carrying drugs,” the video showed. Picture: Instagram

Nicki Minaj posted about the incident on social media. Picture: Instagram

A statement to the PA news agency from the National Police Corps said a woman was arrested after allegedly trying to take soft drugs from Schiphol airport to another country. It confirmed at about 7.30pm local time that she remained under arrest and the force was still investigating.

Fans of the music superstar also took to social media with the hashtag “#FREENICKI.”

Marijuana is legal in Amsterdam as long as an individual has no more than 5 grams of cannabis on them at one time, according to a government website.

Other harder drugs are illegal.