Myanmar police have arrested an American man they caught swimming away from the off-limits lakeside home of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest.

The man identified by local newspapers as John William Yeattaw was spotted and fished early Wednesday morning by police from Yangon's Inya Lake while he was swimming with the help of an empty plastic water jug. He had apparently sneaked into Suu Kyi's residence Sunday also by swimming the lake.

Police confiscated the belongings of Yeattaw, including his passport, which indicated he entered Myanmar on Saturday as a tourist.

The U.S. embassy in Yangon has no details about the incident and is waiting to be informed by authorities. Embassy officials only learned of the incident through the newspapers.

After the arrest of Yeattaw, 20 police entered the home of Suu Kyi as the government started investigating the motive of the American for visiting the opposition leader.

Suu Kyi has been detained at her home the past 19 years. The detention is set to expire on May 27 but the junta ruling Myanmar rejected an appeal by her lawyer to free her.