Dutch police ‘arrest’ Nicki Minaj hours before Manchester show

Nicki Minaj has appeared to be arrested by police in the Netherlands hours before she was due to fly to the UK to perform a concert.

The American singer, known for the songs Starships, Super Bass and Anaconda, is set to perform at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena on Saturday evening as part of her Pink Friday World Tour.

In an series of social media posts on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram, she claimed that police said they found drugs in her luggage after items were checked by customs.

She wrote that “they found weed” and her security has “already advised them those pre-rolls belong to him”.

She also claimed that her bags had been taken by “customs”, with someone who looked like he worked for Schiphol Airport saying that the fact she filmed security checks prompted her luggage to be searched again, in a video shared on Instagram.

Minaj also alleged: “They’ve been trying to stop me from coming to every show. They took my bags before I could see them. Put it on the plane. Now saying they’re waiting on customs.”

She also live streamed what appeared to be a conversation with an officer, who asked her to get into a van so she could go to a police station.

“I’m not carrying drugs, I’m not going in there,” Minaj says.

She then asks the officer if she is “under arrest” to which the the Dutch policeman replies “yes”.

Minaj is told by another policeman that she will get a “lawyer” and to stop filming, and then gets inside the van.

Just before 4pm, she also posted: “It’s a 45 min to an hour flight. So they’re prob trying to stall for about 4 hours.”

Her show at Co-op Live was originally set to have doors open at 6.30pm but this has been changed to 7pm.

Promoters Live Nation, Co-op Live and Dutch police have been contacted for comment.