Nicki Minaj says she ‘sat in a jail cell for six hours’ after being arrested at Amsterdam airport on ‘drug charges’

NICKI Minaj has revealed that she was in a prison cell for six hours after being arrested in Amsterdam on drug charges.

The rapper was scheduled to perform in Manchester at 10pm but cancelled at the last minute after being questioned by police and streaming her own “arrest” hours earlier.

The American rapper’s show descended into chaos when she was asked by Dutch police to get into a police car and questioned for allegedly carrying drugs on a flight to England.

Later that evening, Nicki commented on the arrest via X (formerly known as Twitter).

“Thank you to everyone who prayed for me today. May God protect you and all that is connected to you. May you be blessed beyond your imagination,” Nicki wrote.

“After sitting in a prison cell for 5-6 hours, my plane took off 20 minutes after boarding. The flight lasted 50 minutes. 50 minutes.”

She further explained that she would not be able to perform due to her arrival time in Manchester.

“Please, please, please accept my deepest and most sincere apologies,” she said.

“We will have a new date for tonight’s show shortly and I will probably be able to announce it tomorrow. A July and June option are currently being discussed.”

The star then confirmed that she will perform in Birmingham tomorrow and return to Manchester on the 30th.

A tour announcement today said: “Despite Nicki’s best efforts to explore every possible option to make tonight’s show possible, today’s events have made that impossible.”

Dutch police said a 41-year-old woman was arrested after allegedly attempting to smuggle soft drugs from Schiphol Airport to another country.

A later update around 9 p.m. said: “We have just released a 41-year-old American woman whom we arrested this afternoon at Schiphol on suspicion of exporting soft drugs.”

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

The statement announcing her postponed performance told fans: “Nicki Minaj’s scheduled performance at the Co-op Live in Manchester on Saturday 25th May has been postponed.

“Tickets remain valid for the rescheduled performance, which will be announced as soon as possible.

“We are deeply disappointed by the inconvenience this has caused. Please contact your point of sale for further information.”

Footage from inside the Manchester Arena shows a packed concert hall awaiting their arrival.

When it was announced over the loudspeaker that the show would not take place, a loud uproar broke out in the hall and disappointed fans began to leave the hall.

Minaj recounted her experiences at the airport on Saturday, which began when she said officials forced her to undergo additional security checks on her luggage.

Nicki, 41, was arrested by police in the Netherlands on Saturday for allegedly carrying “drugs” on a flight to England, local news channel NU.nl reported.

“She is currently in custody,” Robert van Kapel, a spokesman for the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, the border police responsible for Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, told The Independent.

Although the singer denied carrying anything illegal, she was told she had to report to the police, according to a live video recorded on her Instagram account.

In the clip, a man tells the songwriter that she is going to “get a lawyer from the office” and that she needs to get there “as soon as possible.”

Nicki explained to her fans in her Instagram Live that airport officials told her to “get in that (police) van and go to the station without a lawyer present.”

The rapper also claimed that a member of the Amsterdam Airport security team asked her to give a “statement without a lawyer present” after they found “pre-rolled joints in bags” that they were “not allowed to take with them.”

A spokesperson for Nicki did not immediately respond to US Sun’s request for comment.

Dispute at the airport

The “Barbie World” singer had previously accused Amsterdam airport staff of trying to delay her trip to prevent her from performing on the scheduled dates of her “Gag City” tour.

Nicki filmed staff forcing her to return her luggage to security for further inspection.

In the clip shared on her Instagram profile, the rapper filmed a man approaching her vehicle to deliver a request from the Amsterdam police.

The flight attendant, wearing a gray suit, white button-down shirt and red tie, leaned into the black car.

Nicki asked the man to repeat his words on camera, to which he replied: “The police officer told me we would have to unload all your luggage and search everything in it.”

“I am very sorry to have to say this,” the airline representative added.

“But wasn’t that what you intended to do from the beginning? Why didn’t you search it before it got on the plane?” the pop star asked in response.

“They just did a quick, random check, but now they want to open it,” he replied.

“Why?” Nicki replied, to which the man shrugged.

“First of all, because you filmed him,” he claimed, to which the rapper replied, “Because I filmed him?”

“Yes, he doesn’t believe you that you don’t have more with you than you say,” explained the Amsterdam airport representative.

“No, he asked me, ‘do I have anything else in these purses?’ and I said no and asked him where my bags were,” Nicki replied.

She continued: “They took my luggage and put it on the plane before I could know what luggage was on the plane.”

But the man responded with another shrug and added, “I’m so sorry.”

“Okay, of course,” Nicki replied before ending the video.

NICKI’S DEMANDS

The rapper captioned her post, “They tried to stop me from coming to every show.”

“They took my luggage before I could see it. They put it on the plane. Now they say they are waiting for customs,” she claimed.

Now they said I had to go 5 minutes away to the police station to make a statement about my safety.

Nicki MinajX

“This is what it looks like when people get paid a lot of money to sabotage a tour after everything else has failed. Everything they did is illegal.”

In the comments on the post, fans expressed support for Nicki, who is currently on her Gag City tour.

FAN SUPPORT

Many coined the phrase “Free Nicki,” while others begged the airport not to “mess with the Queen.”

“Tell them to stop as soon as possible,” one pleaded.

“Because you filmed him. What a lame excuse,” claimed a second.

“The Barbz are here for you. Keep at it and don’t let them ruin your day!” raved a third.

“This is crazy!” raged a fourth.

“You should never have messed with the Queen!!!!!! You are the Queen!!!!!” a fifth added.

“Just horrible! I’m so sorry, Onika, that this is so difficult for you. We love you and will support you forever,” wrote another.

Before the reported arrest, Nicki also quickly posted on X, formerly Twitter, about her shocking experience at Amsterdam Airport.