Secret Service agents sent home after one is found drunk in hotel hallway

Three Secret Service agents who were stationed in Amsterdam have been sent home for disciplinary reasons after one of them was found drunk in his hotel hallway after a night of drinking.

The agents were in the Netherlands capital to prepare for President Barack Obama's visit later this week.

Hotel staffers alerted U.S. authorities about the incident after they found one of the agents passed out in his hotel hallway. The agent and the two companions that he had been drinking with were sent home Sunday as a disciplinary measure.

The three are accused of violating recent rules meant to prevent another embarrassment for the agency following the Colombia prostitution scandal in 2012.

Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said an investigation was underway.

Back in 2012, 11 Secret Agents were sent home from Cartagena after they went out for a night of drinking that ended with them bringing prostitutes into their hotel rooms. Tougher disciplinary rules have been instated in the agency in the wake of those events, including a ban on alcohol consumption 10 hours before work and limiting alcohol consumption to "moderate amounts" while off duty.

[CNN]