Frank Oldfield became a postal inspector around 1900 during the McKinley Administration. At the time, the Postal Inspection Service was the highest ranking federal law enforcement agency. Oldfield was among the more active and successful members of the USPIS force.

Working primarily out of the midwest, he mobilized local government agencies against a growing ring of Mafia black handers in Ohio known as the Society of the Banana. While many of the underworld group's illegal activities were outside of his jurisdiction, the Society's practice of extorting money through mailed threats brought the case to Oldfield's desk. He succeeded in breaking up the ring, led by Salvatore Arrigo, Francesco Spadera and Salvatore Lima, by 1909.

During his investigation of the Society, Oldfield tracked down branches in Indiana, Illinois, New York, California and Oregon, and established links between the Arrigo-Spadera mob and the alleged assassins of both New Orleans' Police Chief David C. Hennessy and New York Detective Joseph Petrosino.

In addition to his important work against the fledgling Mafia in America, Oldfield was highly regarded for rooting out corruption in the postal service.

© 2007 T.Hunt
The American "Mafia"