Under his watch, the Cupola adopted a strategy of attacking institutions and authorities, including the killings, in quick succession, of the top anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992.
Mr. Riina’s arrest in 1993 decapitated the structure, which ceased to function. An attempt to re-establish the Cupola in 2008 was thwarted when dozens of mobsters were arrested.
Though behind bars, Mr. Riina remained the Mafia’s nominal chief.
His death in November 2017 was a turning point, Colonel Di Stasio said. “There was the sense of closing with the past and the beginning of a new era.”
After Mr. Riina’s death, investigators who had been looking into a series of extortion attempts noticed a “great ferment” among local mobsters, and an escalation of meetings between mob bosses in Palermo and its hinterland. On May 29, they assembled in a secret location to elect Mr. Mineo as their leader.
“They named the oldest member as a sign of respect” as well as a sign that the new crop of mobsters had chosen to adhere to the established rules of Cosa Nostra, Colonel Di Stasio said.
The Cupola, the mobsters determined, would meet periodically to deal with pressing issues, including choosing local leaders, resolving disputes and punishing those who had transgressed.
“In six months, they managed to reorganize under traditional rules,” Colonel Di Stasio said.
Italy’s chief anti-Mafia prosecutor, Federico Cafiero De Raho, said that Mr. Mineo’s election showed that the center of power in the Mafia had returned from Corleone to Palermo, the capital city on the northwestern coast of Sicily. Corleone, Mr. Riina’s home base, is a small town in the interior, made famous by the main character of Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel, “The Godfather,” who was named after the place.
Source : Nytimes
