If you live nearby the Mexican border, you better have a GPS handy lest you accidentally leave the country with all of your hunting gear and guns.

This is what happened to retired Marine veteran 1st Sgt. Jeromie Slaughter, who attempted to take his kids on a post-Thanksgiving deer-hunting trip in the Texas wilderness. After taking a wrong turn and crossing a bridge into Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, Slaughter was arrested by local border patrols for carrying three hunting rifles.

“He knew they were lost, and when he saw the sign that said ‘No guns,’ you know, no weapons, he knew that he had gone too far,” Slaughter’s mother Beverly McKinney said.

What might have been a cute father-child bonding experience became a nightmare for the military veteran. Though Slaughter asked to turn around and quietly leave the country, authorities refused. They confiscated his guns, threw Slaughter in jail, and attempted to extort his family in exchange for his release. The family described the experience as a “shake up.”

Slaughter was finally released Friday after the family secured an attorney from Del Rio.

McKinney complained to Fox News that Mexican authorities “were treating [her son] like he is a terrorist. He was on a hunting trip, [he is] not a terrorist. He has fought them, he isn’t one. He was not treated well. He wasn’t given anything to eat or drink. They strip searched him at least twice.”

Mexican authorities haven’t released Slaughter’s guns or truck.

During his 18 years of service, Slaughter served in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He won a Bronze Star for his valor in the field.