Sicilian mafia boss Salvatore (Toto) Riina has died in prison just a day after his 87th birthday according to reports.
The Cosa Nostra bosses health had been slowly deteriorating following two recent surgeries and he had recently been placed in a medically induced coma. Toto Riina was one of Sicily’s most notorious mafia bosses often referred to as the “boss of bosses” before his arrest in 1993. Prosecutors accused Riina of sponsoring a bloody strategy to assassinate Italian prosecutors and lawmakers that were fighting against Cosa Nostra in the 1980s and 90s. It was this reign of terror which led to the bombing deaths of leading anti-mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992.
“Salvatore Riina”
The murders of Falcone and Borsellino led to public outrage and massive crackdowns by the government on the mafia and its leaders. Defectors began to emerge including a mobster with ties to Riina who collaborated with authorities bringing them right to his doorstep. Rinna had been a fugitive for several years before his arrest in Palermo apparently where he had been living fairly openly all along. The ease at which he was able to avoid law enforcement for so long led to questions of corruption and the complicit attitudes of authorities when it came to the mafia. Rinna was convicted of over one hundred counts of murder including ordering the hits on Falcone and Borsellino leading to multiple life sentences.
The Sicilian mafia had thrived over the years by keeping a relatively low profile a trait that Riina did not have in common with his predecessors. Instead, he attempted to terrify the government and law enforcement by orders the murders of judges, prosecutors, and policemen. These new tactics would eventually backfire on Cosa Nostra leading to a change in the public attitude toward organized crime and the passing of a new law which created the new offense of Mafia conspiracy and allowed authorities to confiscate mafia assets. Bernardo Provenzano would eventually take control after Riina’s reign ended and he tried to restore order by halting the murdering of state officials and even informants but he was arrested in 2006.
Cosa Nostra was the most dominant force among the Italian mafia families for years but that is no longer the case. The damage done under Riina’s leadership has certainly played a role in the organization’s downfall and now the Calabrian mafia also knowns as the Ndrangheta has become the new power as Cosa Nostra struggles to reorganize under its new alleged boss Matteo Messina Denaro.
Doubt too many are mourning this loss
Careful, you’ll have online do-gooders coming to his rescue saying that you shouldn’t say stuff like that. Even though he was a bloodthirsty gangster.
I beg to differ. Cosa Nostra is still very powerful and in fact they work side by side with the Ndrangheta as equals. If Cosa Nostra really lost that much clout then the Ndrangheta would be treating them like a subordinate street gang but you don’t see that happening. Still, I’m glad this guy finally reached the end of the rope. I’m tired of hearing about the same old characters. I want to see new people rise up. Let’s hope that Carmine Persico and Vittorio Amuso aren’t far behind.
I don’t think there is any doubt that Cosa Nostra is still a power in the region and remains very profitable although it is also clear that they have lost some ground to the Ndrangheta over the years. The Calabrians simply have not had the problems over the last decade or so that the Sicilians have had. I don’t think the power gap is enough for the Calabrians to treat the Sicilians as subordinates and the two def work together when possible but the Ndrangheta seem to have the upper hand of late.
You’re exactly right John, not quite what they once were. I think these articles just over exaggerate their downfall a bit though.
Agreed they may have lost a step but they certainly are not going anywhere anytime soon and they remain very dangerous and are still making tons of profits there and elsewhere.
How many times have we seen one of these Press Conferences where some Federal Task Force claims they’ve taken down the Mafia for good. Always the big production with them making their big statements for the media. We all know that LCN took some hard hits especially during the 90’s but the stronger families are still up and running. Families are working together and apparently with the Ndrangheta up in Canada as the recent busts have shown.
Yeah they def love a good headline no doubt about that.
From what I’ve seen by reading a plethora of articles in Italian and just internationally about the various Italian groups, I think that the police have really started cracking down on the ‘ndrangheta because it is the center of attention lately. The camorra as well, especially since they are so public regarding murder and the ones in Napoli are very much like big street gangs at the lower levels. My prediction is that the sicilians will recover to an extent, and while they likely won’t eclipse the ‘ndrangheta again any time in the near future, the power gap that was formed between them will get much smaller. Also, from what I’m seeing, the Sacra Corona Unita has been quite active as of late, both in Puglia, and in internationally ( there is news of them operating in the Netherlands alot). So i think the gap between the Sacra Corona Unita and the other mafia groups will lessen as well.
They def seem to be concentrating on the Ndrangheta more of late but it will likely take some time to make any real mark there as the organization really seems to have had a head start and have established solid bases in a few diff countries now. Think the Camorra and the Sacra Corona may be a bit easier targets to make a dent into for authorities in upcoming years.
I’d just like to add that it’s a known fact that the sicilians and Calabrians have been working together for decades. In fact, the Calabrians used to get their cocaine from the Caruana cuntrera clan and their connections in South America, back in the 80’s.
Yeah would imagine it is the same as in the U.S. various families don’t mind working together when it suits their needs while at same time still trying to compile as much territory and power as they can individually.
Rizzuto was tied to those guys as well. In that book “ The Sixth Family” they are mentioned. I forget exactly but they may be intermarried even? I haven’t read that book for some years so I’ve forgotten a lot of the details but I do remember the book made a big point in describing how the Rizzuto clan did a good job of keeping things literally in the family either by blood or marriage or both. Old school Sicilian style. The Detroit Family practiced that tradition quite a bit also. Although they are not a huge family, they haven’t had nearly the amount of Informants as some others. It’s just not that easy to snitch on you’re own blood. Some of the larger New York families had a fair amount of guys who straight up didnt even like each other personally. I’m sure that didn’t help any with guys turning on each other.
Yep, the Caruana cuntreras were intermarried with the Rizzuto’s, and there were members of that clan who were part of the rizzutos such as Agostino cuntrera and a few others.
With any of the different Mafia organizations from Italy, it really comes down to what clans you are talking about. The Casalesi and Mallardo clans from the Camorra, for instance, are far from being street gangs.
Ya, that’s why I was talking specifically talking about the clans in Napoli, not the greater Campania region.
I “read” Italian articles on Cosa Nostra with Google Chrome translator, and I must say, it does a horrible job at translating other languages to English. It’s very painful to read.
Ya it does kinda suck. Some of the translations end up being laughable misinterpretations and strange wording but they are sometimes the only place to get Information on the various Italian groups, especially on more subtle events/cases.
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[…] Toto Riina The former boss of the Sicilian Mafia was born in Corleone in 1930. His reputation precedes him as […]