Rosario Riccobono (10 February 1929–30 November 1982) was the Mafia boss of Partanna Mondello from 1974 to 1981, succeeding Vincenzo Nicoletti and preceding Antonino Porcelli. A massive heroin trafficker, Riccobono disappeared and was killed on orders from Salvatore Riina in 1982 during his campaign against the Palermo Mafia clans.
Biography[]
Riccobono was born on 10 February 1929 to an Italian family in Palermo, Sicily. He got involved with the Mafia at a young age, and in 1974, he became the boss of the Partanna Mondello family in Palermo and had a seat on the Commission. Riccobono was a drug kingpin since the 1970s, and at the end of the decade, went on the run when he was accused of running Turkish-grown heroing through Sicily and the United States along with his right-hand man Gaspare Mutolo; he also planned to import 500 kilogram heroin shipments from Thailand to traffic internationally. Despite being close to several of Salvatore Riina's prime targets during his campaign for power, such as Stefano Bontade, Salvatore Inzerillo and Gaetano Badalamenti, Riccobono turned on them and sided with Riina in 1981, luring some of their allies to their deaths. However, since he had betrayed his companions, Riina considered him untrustworthy and felt he needed to get rid of him, in part to provide Riccobono's enemies with control over his former territories. On 30 November 1982, Riccobono and eight underlings disappeared leaving no trace, having been invited to dinner at Michele Greco's Palermo estate. There, after having eaten himself to sleep, Riccobono was strangled to death along with all his men by the Corleonesi, and their bodies were dissolved in acid.