Sangiorgi report

[1] The report contains the first complete picture of Cosa Nostra to be made and the first official document that defines the mafia as a criminal organization founded on an oath and primarily focusing on protection racket as its main activity.

[2] Of romagnol origins,[3] Sangiorgi arrived in Palermo in August 1898, after having served in other Sicilian cities and having achieved considerable successes against criminal groups in the west of the island.

In 1899 Sangiorgi carried out two of his most famous arrests, that of the member of parliament Raffaele Palizzolo and the mafia boss Giuseppe Fontana, who were held to be responsible for the murder of banker and politician Emanuele Notarbartolo.

[7] While investigating over various crimes committed by the cosche of the Conca d'Oro, Sangiorgi realized that the murders were not the result of individual initiatives, but they involved rules, collective decisions and a system of territorial control.

Sangiorgi discovered that the two dynasties lived side by side with the mafiosi of the Conca d'Oro, who were hired as guardians and farmers in their estates and paid to receive "protection"; the mafia, however, often resorted to threats and intimidations to obtain these positions: the Whitaker family in particular had their infant daughter Audrey kidnapped for ransom, and she was returned only after they paid a hefty sum.

In 1898 his fortunes had been declining: his adversary Antonio Giammona, boss of the Uditore Mafia family, contested his racket of the fruit and vegetable market, robberies, extortion, and banknotes counterfeiting.

The report minutely describes the business methods utilized by organized crime such as: committing robberies, infiltrating agricultural estates, counterfeiting banknotes.

Sangiorgi's objective had been to obtain evidence to demonstrate that the protection racket, alongside political contacts, were the basis of the Mafia's modus operandi[9].