New rules following US Secret Service scandal The US Secret Service has tightened its rules in the wake of allegations that agents consorted with prostitutes in the Colombian city of Cartagena. Heavy drinking and bringing foreign nationals back to hotel rooms on trips abroad is now banned, with rules stating that "foreign nationals, excluding hotel staff and official counterparts, are prohibited in your hotel room." "Alcohol may only be consumed in moderate amounts while off-duty on a temporary duty assignment, and alcohol use is prohibited within ten hours of reporting for duty," the rules say. Furthermore, alcohol may not be consumed at all at the hotel where the person being protected by the Secret Service is staying once that person has arrived. The allegations suggest Secret Service agents and military personnel brought prostitutes to their hotels, including the five-star Hotel Caribe, accompanied by a clutch of Colombian women, just before President Barack Obama arrived for a summit. Twelve Secret Service employees were implicated in the Colombia matter. Eight have left the agency, three were cleared of serious misconduct and one is being stripped of his security clearance. Twelve members of the military were also implicated and that investigation is ongoing. Earlier this week, The Secret Service began looking into the scandal of similar misbehaviour before a 2011 presidential trip to El Salvador, a report that would appear to contradict official government arguments that the Colombian episode must have been an aberration. A spokesman said on Thursday that no "credible" evidence had been found to back up the report.