Riina plaçait ses espoirs dans la lenteur des procédures devant la cour d'appel qui avait, par le passé, vu des mafieux condamnés être libérés. Giovanni Brusca claimed that, during 1991 and early 1992, Riina contemplated acts of terrorism against the state to get it to back off in its crackdown against the Mafia, including acts such as bombing the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Giovanni Brusca, un tueur de Riina, l'homme qui a fait exploser la bombe qui a tué le juge Falcone, devint ensuite un informateur après son arrestation de 1996. 57 days later Borsellino was killed along with five police officers in the entrance to his mother's apartment block by a car bomb.

He also had close relations with the 'Ndrangheta, the mafia-type association in Calabria.

Apparently Vincenzo Puccio had been planning to overthrow Riina as head of the Sicilian Mafia but the Corleonesi boss had found out about the plot. Both attacks were ordered by Riina. Riina prétend n'être qu'un pauvre comptable harcelé, et, dans son costume de piètre qualité, c… In 2006, the Palermo Court absolved Mario Mori and Captain "Ultimo" (Sergio Dicaprio) – the man who arrested Riina – of the charge of consciously aiding and abetting the Mafia. One of Riina's close friends in the Corleonesi Clan, Bernardo Provenzano, was believed to have taken over as head of the organization. Although Leggio retained some influence from behind bars, Riina was now the effective head of the Corleonesi. Riina pinned his hopes on the lengthy appeal process that had frequently set convicted mafioso free, and he suspended the campaign of murders against officials while the cases went to higher courts. This was a blow to Riina as, although he was already a fugitive, he aspired to someday enjoy his vast wealth living openly as a free man. En même temps il fait la connaissance de En 1950, à l'âge de 19 ans, il a été condamné à 12 ans de prison pour Il passe plusieurs années en prison, où il fait la connaissance d'autres mafieux, avant d'être acquitté lors d'un procès à En 1983, les Corleonesi ont pris le contrôle de la mafia, et les années suivantes voient encore leur influence s'accentuer lorsqu'ils éliminent leurs alliés, comme Alors qu'ils sont devenus le clan le plus puissant de Sicile, la tactique des Corleonesi se retourne contre eux quand, en 1984, En 1989, Riina arrange les assassinats de nombreux de ses alliés, incluant le parrain de Ciaculli, Vincenzo Puccio, et ses deux frères. Totò Riina wanted to take control of the trade and was to do so by planning a war against the rival Mafia Families. Cependant les tribunaux ont acquitté Andreotti d'association avec la Mafia après 1980Alors que ses prédécesseurs ont fait en sorte de rester très discrets au point de faire douter les forces de l'ordre de l'existence de la mafia, Riina ordonne le meurtre de juges, de policiers et de procureurs dans le but de terrifier les autorités. There were up to a thousand killings during this time period as Riina and the Corleonesi, together with their allies, wiped out their rivals. Salvatore Riina, också känd som Totò Riina, född 16 november 1930 i Corleone, Sicilien, död 17 november 2017 i Parma, Emilia-Romagna, [6] var en medlem av den sicilianska maffian och blev den mäktigaste inom organisationen under början av 1980-talet.Medbrottslingarna kallade honom för Besten (La Belva) och ibland också Den korte (U curtu). This version of Riina’s arrest has been denied by Carabinieri commander, general Mario Mori (at the time deputy head of the ROS).

In 2004 it was reported that Riina had suffered two heart attacks in May and December the previous year. In 1974 Luciano Leggio was arrested and imprisoned for the murder of Michele Navarra sixteen years earlier. In 1992 Carabinieri Colonel Mario Mori met with Vito Ciancimino, who was close to Riina's lieutenant Bernardo Provenzano.

In November 2001, a court in Palermo sentenced 24-year-old Giovanni to life in prison for four murders. Knowing Riina would order the death of subordinates who he considered unreliable, Di Maggio fled Sicily and collaborated with the authorities.

Investigating magistrates, Giovanni Falcone and his colleague Paolo Borsellino prosecutions against the Mafia had meant they were under the constant threat of death. At this point, the arrest and cooperation of Balduccio Di Maggio led to the arrest of Riina. Ninette's family soon dropped any opposition to Riina's matrimonial plans. Together with Totò Riina and Bernardo Provenzano (who were two of the gunmen in Navarra's slaying), Leggio began to increase the power of the Corleonesi. The head of the Mafia Family in Corleone was Michele Navarra until 1958, when he was shot to death on the orders of Luciano Leggio, a ruthless 33-year-old Mafioso, who subsequently becam… His two sons, Giovanni and Giuseppe, followed in their father's footsteps and have since joined him behind bars.

Riina was highly persuasive and often highly sentimental. Some prosecutors have theorized that Borsellino murder was connected to the alleged negotiations. Riina's tenure as 'boss of bosses' was marked by a changing public attitudes to organised crime. In response to public disquiet about the failure to effectively combat the organisation Riina headed, Pio La Torre's law was passed 10 days later. The profits to be had from heroin were vast and exceeded those of the traditional activities of extortion and loan-sharking.