A McMinn County man is awaiting extradition from Arizona to face Tennessee charges of trafficking and money laundering, according to authorities.
Exzayveon Smith, 25, is charged on a McMinn County grand jury indictment with one count of trafficking for commercial sex acts and one count of money laundering, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a press release on the case.
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Smith’s arrest stems from a yearlong state investigation launched on a tip the state agency received in March 2025 alleging Smith was involved in human trafficking in the McMinn County area, authorities said.
Smith was taken into custody Wednesday in Bullhead City, Arizona. Bullhead City police assisted, taking Smith into custody and booking him into the Mohave County, Arizona, jail in Kingman, Arizona.
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Smith is currently awaiting extradition to Tennessee, where he will be held on a $250,000 bond, according to investigators.
McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy said he and local residents were thankful the TBI’s effort.
“We appreciate our TBI partners in the work they do to remove sex offenders and human traffickers from our area,” Guy said Friday by text.
Information about human trafficking and TBI’s efforts to address this type of crime can be found online at www.ITHasToStop.com, according to the state agency. Anyone can report a suspected case of human trafficking by calling the Tennessee Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-855-558-6484.
Contact Southeast Tennessee reporter Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.