Father and son from Falls charged with gun trafficking | Crime

BUFFALO – A father and son from Niagara Falls are in federal custody on charges of arms trafficking, including the illegal transfer of a machine gun.

Dustin Lee McCarthy Sr., 43, and his son Dayzon Davon McCarthy, 21, were arrested in multiple raids in Falls on Wednesday night. They were arraigned in U.S. District Court in Buffalo on Thursday afternoon.

McCarthy Sr. is charged with arms trafficking, while his son faces the same charge as well as illegally transferring a machine gun. U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Roemer ordered them held without bail pending a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATFE), along with investigators from the Niagara County Drug Task Force (DTF) and detectives from the Falls Police Narcotics & Intelligence Division (NID) fanned out across the city around 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday to execute three search warrants issued in connection with what was described at the time as a “firearms trafficking investigation.”

The nature of the charges resulted in a heavily armed police presence at the three targeted locations at 1311 Willow Avenue, 1802 Linwood Avenue and 1701 18th Street. Members of the Niagara County Sheriff's Office and Falls Police Emergency Response Teams assisted in the execution of the search warrants.

Agents and investigators reportedly seized a number of firearms and quantities of suspected narcotics, including fentanyl, at the three Falls addresses.

In affidavits attached to the criminal complaints against the McCarthys, an ATFE special agent stated that investigators secretly purchased five firearms from the father and son.

On June 23, the special agent said, a confidential informant purchased a Taurus G2S .9mm pistol from Dustin McCarthy for $700. Three days earlier, the agent said, an informant met with Dayzon McCarthy and purchased a Glock Model 44 .22-caliber pistol with a “back plate auto sear, also known as a Glock switch or machine gun conversion device” attached to it.

The special agent's affidavits also list three other gun purchases by Dayzon McCarthy, including the sale of a Beretta Model 21A Lady Beretta on June 28. The informant also reportedly purchased a Davis Industries Model P380 .380 caliber pistol on July 3 and a “Ghost Gun” with a machine gun conversion device on August 12.

Neither of the McCarthys is a stranger to local law enforcement. Dustin McCarthy was convicted of drug offenses at the state level in 2004 and 2011. McCarthy is also on parole in connection with a pending federal drug trafficking charge.

Dayzon McCarthy was convicted of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in Niagara County Court in 2021. He was convicted as a youthful offender in that case and served a two-year sentence in state prison.