Rapper Nicki Minaj was briefly arrested at Schiphol Airport on Saturday and subsequently fined on allegations that officials found “soft drugs” in her luggage, Dutch authorities said.
The Royal Military Police, the Dutch national police agency, posted on social media on Saturday evening that a 41-year-old American woman arrested on suspicion of exporting soft drugs was fined and released after officials consulted with local prosecutors. The amount of the fine was not stated.
Although Dutch police did not name Minaj as a suspect, the rapper posted a video of the ordeal on social media. In the video, she explains that police told her that officers found marijuana in her bags and that it needed to be weighed.
Minaj’s video shows a man in a suit telling her that the police want to “search all her luggage.”
“The police officer told me we have to unload all your luggage and search all your luggage,” the man, who was not immediately identified, says in the video.
“…He (a police officer) doesn’t believe you don’t have more on you than you said,” the man can also be heard saying.
Cannabis is illegal in the Netherlands, but it is tolerated for recreational use.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, file
In the video, police officers could be heard telling Minaj that she was “under arrest” for “carrying drugs” before asking her to get into a van to go to the police station.
Minaj, born Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty, denied the claims and asked for a lawyer several times before getting into the van.
Ahead of Minaj’s release, Robert Kapel, a military police spokesman, told AFP that “interrogation is still ongoing.”
A representative for Minaj and the Amsterdam police did not immediately respond to CBS News’ request for comment.
Minaj was in Amsterdam where she played a show at Ziggo’s Dome on Thursday. She was on her way to Manchester, England, for another show scheduled for Saturday evening as part of her Pink Friday 2 World Tour when the arrest occurred. The Manchester venue where Minaj was due to perform, Co-op Live, announced that Saturday’s show had been postponed as a result.
“Despite Nikki’s best efforts to explore all possible avenues to make tonight’s show happen, today’s events have made it impossible,” the spokesperson said. Co-op wrote in a social media post.
In a series of messages to X, Minaj claimed the arrest was an attempt to “sabotage my tour.”
“They’re getting paid a lot of money to try to sabotage my tour because sooooo many people are mad that it’s so successful and they can’t feed on me. They got caught stealing money from my travel/jets. They’re fired. I’m busted.” angry, etc.,” she said.
