A US Marine was arrested in Venezuela while visiting the country on private trips, US officials confirmed this to CBS News.

The reason for the sailor’s arrest is not yet known, but one of the officials told CBS News that the sailor was neither on authorized U.S. military leave nor on an official trip to Venezuela at the time of his arrest.

Several U.S. officials and a senior Defense Department official told CBS News that the sailor was a petty officer first class and former Navy SEAL who was assigned to a team on the West Coast. One of the officials said the sailor was no longer authorized to wear the trident, the symbol of a qualified SEAL.

Dave Madden, a former Navy SEAL officer and Afghanistan veteran, told CBS News it was unusual to strip a SEAL of the trident badge – a golden eagle holding an anchor and a trident spear, marking his membership in the elite military community.

“It happens sometimes, but it’s pretty rare,” Madden said, suggesting that a SEAL would likely have done “pretty egregious things” to be punished in this way.

Madden explained that SEALs can typically be stripped of their Trident due to a Captain’s Mast, a non-judicial disciplinary action or court-martial. While each case is unique, former SEALs can either return to a previous job in the Navy, return to the administration or be discharged from military service.

The US State Department has issued a travel warning for Venezuela, urging Americans to “reconsider travel due to unlawful detention, terrorism, and poor health infrastructure.”

CNN was the first to report on the arrest.

Relations between the United States and Venezuela have been strained as successive governments have attempted to pressure the autocratic Venezuelan government to combat corruption.

Elections took place in Venezuela earlier this year, but the Biden administration has challenged the results that kept President Nicolas Maduro in power. The State Department said in a statement in August that “Nicolás Maduro and his proxies manipulated the results of this election, falsely claimed victory, and carried out widespread repression to retain power.”

Earlier this week, the United States seized Maduro’s plane, the Venezuelan equivalent of Air Force One, for alleged violations of sanctions.

This is the third high-profile detention of a US soldier in just over a year in a country with a difficult relationship with US Army Private Travis King was arrested in July 2023 after entering North Korea, Army Staff Sgt. Gordon Black was arrested in Russia in May of this year and now the US Navy sailor in Venezuela.

King was released back to the United States after just over two months in North Korean custody and is due to face a court martial in Texas this month. He is expected to plead guilty to desertion, said his lawyer. Russian court sentenced Black to nearly four years in prison in June.