ROBERTSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Members of multiple law enforcement agencies teamed up for an undercover operation aimed at fighting human trafficking in Middle Tennessee, which led to four arrests in Springfield.

According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the operation was conducted by members of the TBI’s Human Trafficking Unit, the TBI’s Tennessee Human Trafficking Task Force, the Springfield Police Department, the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office, and the 19th Judicial District Attorney General’s Office.

Starting on Friday, May 12, undercover authorities placed several decoy advertisements on websites linked to prostitution and commercial sex, officials said. The goal of the operation was to identify people seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors.

As a result of their efforts, the TBI said agents, deputies, and detectives arrested the following four men, who were booked into the Robertson County Jail:

  • Arbey Neptale Bartolon-Lopez, 32:
    • Charged with one count of trafficking for commercial sex act, one count of solicitation of a minor, and one count of patronizing prostitution
    • Bond set at $310,000
  • Benjamin Wade Taylor, 26:
    • Charged with one count of trafficking for commercial sex act, one count of solicitation of a minor, and one count of patronizing prostitution
    • Bond set at $160,000
  • Cornelius S. McKnight, 22:
    • Charged with one count of trafficking for commercial sex act, one count of solicitation of a minor, and one count of patronizing prostitution
    • Bond set at $160,000
  • Angel Daniel Sanmiguel-Barron, 20:
    • Charged with one count of trafficking for commercial sex act, one count of solicitation of a minor, and one count of patronizing prostitution
    • Bond set at $160,000

According to authorities, this is the fifth such operation carried out by TBI special agents and other law enforcement agencies in 2023.

Officials said they conducted 13 similar operations across Tennessee in 2021, followed by nine in 2022, in order to reduce human trafficking.

To learn more about human trafficking, as well as TBI’s efforts to tackle this kind of crime, follow this link.