Nicki Minaj Released from Jail After Arrest in Amsterdam Where Drugs Reportedly Found

Singer Nicki Minaj has been released from custody in Amsterdam after police found drugs in her luggage, a spokesman for the Dutch Border Guard said.

Her appearance in Manchester on Saturday night was postponed. Fans had already packed the Co-op Live Arena before Live Nation announced the show would not go ahead.

Robert van Kapel, spokesman for the Royal Netherlands Border Guard Marechaussee, responsible for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, said: Independent earlier Saturday that the pop star had been arrested and was in custody.

While Kapel did not name Minaj, who was streaming on Instagram as Amsterdam police tried to arrest her, he said he “can confirm that we arrested a 41-year-old American woman because we conducted a check at Schiphol airport and found soft drugs on her, and it is illegal to export soft drugs in the Netherlands.”

Minaj is 41 years old. In the Netherlands, marijuana, which is legal in the country, is classified as a “soft drug,” and Minaj revealed in her video that her bag contained pre-rolled joints that she claimed belonged to someone else.

Officials issued an update around 4:00 p.m. ET, stating that “the suspect has been released and is now free to move on,” according to PA Ready. Officials added that the woman will have to pay a “fine,” which will be determined by the Attorney General’s Office.

In Minaj’s Instagram video, the officer can be heard saying they wanted to arrest her for “transferring drugs,” which she denied.

The officer tells Minaj that her bags were initially subjected to a “random quick check,” but police wanted to conduct a full search. When she asked why, she was told that the officer “didn’t believe you didn’t have more on you than you were saying,” noting that her decision to film the search raised the officer’s suspicions.

Minaj initially refused to go with police.

“I’m not going there. I need a lawyer present,” she told the officer.

After some fussing, Minaj finally gives in and gets into the police car.

While being transported, she told officers she was worried she wouldn’t be able to make it to her next performance. The officer assured her they would “try to get her there” as quickly as possible.

The encounter with police occurred during Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 World Tour. She is scheduled to perform Saturday night in Manchester, England, and the day before she performed in Amsterdam, the first stop of her European tour.

On Saturday, Ms. Minaj gave few details about her encounter; she said the police “said they found weed and that another group of people needed to come here to weigh the pre-rolled joints” — referring to the pre-rolled marijuana joints typically purchased at dispensaries.

“Remember they took my bags without permission. My security already informed them that the pre-rolls belong to him,” she wrote on X. “Oh yeah, and the pilot wants me to delete my post (from Instagram).”

She later said she had to give a statement to security officers at the police station.

Around 11 a.m. ET, Minaj wrote that her flight was supposed to leave “two hours ago.”

Fans have already been feverishly selling tickets in anticipation of tonight’s Manchester show being cancelled – although Live Nation says it will honour tickets for a future performance.

Minaj also blamed her former manager for her travel woes, accusing him of adding “$30-50k to my jet and taking it for himself.” She claimed their goal was to “show up late and take $40k” by forcing her to miss one flight and book a different jet.

“Jealousy is a disease. You know the rest,” she wrote.

Saturday’s performance is Minaj’s first in Manchester this year. Late last year, Minaj added a second Manchester date — May 30 — citing overwhelming demand for her first performance.

The rapper set box office records with her Pink Friday 2 World Tour. Not only is it the highest-grossing tour of her career, but according to Billboard Boxscore, the tour grossed $67 million and sold 439,000 tickets, making it the highest-grossing and best-selling tour by a female rapper in Boxscore history.

Minaj is scheduled to perform in Birmingham on Sunday and London on Tuesday.