U.S. authorities say the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor has been arrested on charges of trying to obtain a false passport.

Charles McArthur Emmanuel, also known as Charles "Chuckie" Taylor Jr., was arrested Thursday at Miami International Airport after arriving from the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad.  His arrest came days after his father was taken into custody by the war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone.

Emmanuel, 29, served as head of his father's security forces during Taylor's rule of Liberia, which lasted from 1997 to 2003.

Charles Taylor is facing 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from his role in Sierra Leone's brutal civil war.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.