RPD conducts dramatic rescues, foils human trafficking plot

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Raleigh police have pulled off dramatic rescues of two kidnap victims this month according to just-released court documents.

On Feb. 1, according to a search-warrant application, Raleigh police got a tip from their counterparts in the Alamance County town of Burlington.

They were told a young woman had been kidnapped in an SUV headed for University Village, an apartment complex off Lake Wheeler Road in South Raleigh that caters to NC State students.

Many of those students were there when police converged on the complex.

"It was pretty crazy. I was just studying in the clubhouse actually and I walk outside and there was like 15 different police officers and police officer cars. And someone was like, 'You can't leave the building. Like there's a kidnapping, drugs,' etc. And we were all like freaking out. There were kids like all up on the terraces like looking over to see what was going on," resident Tori Dozier told ABC11.

In the search warrant, police say they hid in strategic positions around the complex and stopped the SUV as it arrived.

Investigators say a 22-year-old woman inside told them she had indeed been abducted by the men inside.

Those men, Silas Clark and Travon Bonds of Charlotte, and Jemik Umba of Raleigh, all 22, are charged with first-degree kidnapping.

Police say they found rolls of duct tape and a semi-automatic handgun inside the SUV.

"That tells me it could've have been pretty violent," said Chase Barnhill, an NCSU student and resident of University Village. "It could've gotten bad if they hadn't found her here.

"I'm really glad that they found her," she added.

A week later, on Feb. 8, police got a call from a tipster in New York State according to another search warrant.

The tipster told them a woman was being held against her will in Raleigh.

Police used the victim's cell-phone number to locate her in an apartment on Tapers Drive in North Raleigh's Mini City area.

In the search warrant, police say they made a "protective sweep" and found the victim.

The 20-year-old told them she had made contact with the suspects through social media, they sent her a bus ticket, and she came to Raleigh.

But after arriving here she said "...that she was being held against her will and was being made to engage in sexual activity with multiple people."

According to police, she went on to say the suspects were collecting money from those she was forced to have sex with.

In that case, Michael Plaza, 26, of Smithfield and Kenneth Boone, 25, of Raleigh are each charged with promoting prostitution, first-degree kidnapping, and felony possession of cocaine.