Two Albany residents are behind bars after police say a search warrant executed at a Dana Avenue home near Robin Street on Wednesday turned up two loaded 9mm handguns. Officers arrested 18-year-old Syrie Q. McDuffie and 39-year-old Tahiesha K. Smith on criminal weapons possession charges following the search.
According to WRGB, Albany police officers executed multiple search warrants at residences across the city on Wednesday, and the Dana Avenue search was one of them. Police said the two loaded handguns were recovered from inside that home, though the outlet's report does not specify who owned or possessed each weapon or detail the exact statutory counts filed against the pair.
McDuffie and Smith were arraigned Wednesday afternoon and both were remanded to Albany County Jail, per the same report. No additional details about their court appearances or pleas were included in the available reporting.
Part of a Pattern of Weapons Warrants This Year
Wednesday's arrests follow a string of similar search-warrant operations in Albany throughout 2026. In January, officers searched a Morris Street residence near New Scotland Avenue and recovered one loaded handgun and one unloaded handgun, according to a separate cbs6albany.com report. That search led to the arrests of 27-year-old Mark Wray, who was charged with second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and 30-year-old Naphorley Wilson, who was charged with criminal possession of a firearm; both men were arraigned and remanded to Albany County Jail.
A larger operation unfolded in July, when five Albany residents were arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation after police and partner agencies executed multiple search warrants, cbs6albany.com reported at the time. That case included a search on Kent Street that yielded a loaded 9mm ghost gun and a high-capacity magazine, along with a separate search on Lark Drive that turned up another high-capacity magazine.
State Tracks Firearm Crime Data, But Figures Weren't Available
New York's Division of Criminal Justice Services notes that it tracks several firearm-related statistics as part of the state's GIVE initiative, which focuses on reducing shootings and firearm-related homicides. Per criminaljustice.ny.gov, those statistics on violent crimes involving firearms are pulled from monthly UCR and NYSIBR data submitted by law enforcement agencies statewide. The agency's published materials describe where that data comes from but do not include figures showing whether firearm violence in Albany is trending up or down.
For now, the Dana Avenue case remains the latest entry in a year that has repeatedly put Albany police's warrant teams in the headlines for recovering loaded guns from city homes. Investigators have not released further details about what prompted Wednesday's search or whether it connects to any of the earlier 2026 cases.
