Nicki Minaj arrested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on drug charge
Authorities at Schiphol Airport arrested Nicki Minaj, 41, on drug possession charges, sources confirmed to Nu on Saturday. The American singer and rap musician was taken into custody after she was subjected to additional screening.
A spokesperson for the Marechaussee told NL Times that a 41-year-old American woman was taken into custody for possession of soft drugs at the Schiphol-Oost private airfield. She was first screened by passports control officers there, who ordered her luggage to be searched after their interaction with the woman, he said.
After drugs were found, the woman was detained at about 5:30 p.m. She was due to be interrogated later in the evening, and the drugs had not yet been weighed, he added.
The spokesperson would not confirm that Minaj was their suspect, citing privacy reasons. He only identified her by her age and her U.S. citizenship, however Minaj herself confirmed an encounter with authorities at Schiphol. The Marechaussee is a military branch is responsible for policing and securing Dutch borders and airports.
Minaj confirmed on social media that the pilot for her private flight from Amsterdam to Manchester confirmed the extra search of her luggage. In a video she posted online, a man explains to her that Dutch officials saw her shooting video of them, and decided to search her luggage.
Minaj was sitting in a vehicle and had not boarded the private jet. “They took my luggage and when I asked where it is they said it’s on the plane. It couldn’t have been, I just pulled up,” she said on X.
“I never gave them my bags. They’re refusing to let me see my own bags,” she continued. The singer alleged that she fired members of her management and a tour manager for padding her private jet bills by up to 50,000 dollars, which they then pocketed.
Minaj alleged they were conspiring against her to either make her show up late to performances, or miss them entirely. “This is how they plant things in your luggage,” she claimed, saying it was an ongoing issue on Saturday in Amsterdam “where weed is legal.” She was scheduled to perform at 7:30 p.m. local time in Manchester.
“Although cannabis is not legal in the Netherlands, there is a ‘tolerance policy’ (gedoogbeleid), which means the law is not enforced in relation to the retail sale of small quantities for personal use in cannabis cafés known as ‘coffeeshops’,” the city of Amsterdam states on its government website. Personal use quantities are limited to five grams.
“Now they said they found weed and that another group of [people] have to come here to weigh the pre-rolls. Keep in mind they took my bags without consent. My security has already advised them those pre-rolls belong to him,” she stated.
Pre-rolled joints purchased in Amsterdam coffeeshops typically contain between half a gram and a full gram of cannabis.
Minaj performed at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam on Thursday, and the she took the stage at 10:45 p.m. The scheduled start time was actually 8 p.m., and she concluded her show around 12:15 a.m.
The 41-year-old was due to return for a second show at the Ziggo Dome on June 2. She was scheduled for five shows in the United Kingdom, and one show in Paris, before her return to Amsterdam.
