Story highlights Detained student was a high school salutatorian, CNN affiliate reports

Otto Frederick Warmbier is a student at the University of Virginia

A Chinese travel company says Warmbier was detained January 2 in in Pyongyang

(CNN) A University of Virginia college student from Cincinnati has been detained in North Korea after being accused of a "hostile act" against the government there.

Otto Frederick Warmbier was detained January 2 in Pyongyang, according to Young Pioneer Tours, the China-based travel company that organized his trip.

He was detained at Pyongyang Airport as he was going through customs, the tour company said.

The company's website says it "provides budget tours to destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from."

North Korean state media said Warmbier, who reportedly entered North Korea on a tourist visa, is accused of carrying out "a hostile act against the DPRK," referring to the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea.