[Source: BBC]

American rapper Nicki Minaj has been freed by police after being detained at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.

Dutch police posted on X: “We have just released a 41-year-old American woman whom we arrested this afternoon at Schiphol on suspicion of exporting soft drugs.”

“The suspect was fined and can continue her journey.”

The artist had been due to fly to Manchester for a concert at the Co-op Live venue on Saturday evening.

Minaj filmed part of her encounter with police, posting it to social media.

In the video, a police officer can seemingly be heard telling Minaj: “You are under arrest.”

At Co-op Live on Saturday evening, thousands of fans – many wearing her trademark pink – were in good spirits as they entered the venue, hoping the show would go ahead.

One started a chant of: “Free Nicki Minaj!”

Fans Georgina Warde and Darcy Nicholls, both 18, travelled from Newcastle and had been looking forward to the show since they bought their tickets in December.

They said they would be upset if the show didn’t happen.

Ms Nicholls said: “I’m trying to stay positive but we’ve accepted the fact that it may not happen. We’re mentally prepared for that.”

Even without any legal problems, the rapper is known for turning up late.

“I really hope she comes on,” Ms Nicholls added. “But it’s Nicki so we knew it would be delayed somehow.”

The music star posted a series of messages on X apparently in relation to the incident.

“They took my luggage without consent,” she wrote in one. In another she added: “This is Amsterdam btw [by the way], where weed is legal,” using a colloquial term for the drug cannabis.

Minaj had originally been scheduled to go on stage at the Co-op Live arena at 20:00 BST.

Doors to the concert opened around 30 minutes late on Saturday. With thousands in the venue as of 20:30, it was unclear whether the gig would go ahead as planned.

But a manager at the venue told BBC News the concert was due to go ahead, adding that a helicopter was waiting at Manchester Airport to bring the rapper to the venue.

It is technically against the law to possess, sell or produce drugs in the Netherlands. But the country operates a policy of toleration towards the sale or possession of small amounts of some drugs.

The BBC has approached Minaj’s representatives for comment.