[1] During the war he survived an assassination attempt by hitmen loyal to Tripodo, inside the Roof Garden bar in Reggio Calabria, which led to the death of his brother Giovanni.
[2][3] Giorgio De Stefano became victorious in the First 'Ndrangheta war (which caused 233 deaths), and inaugurated, together with other 'ndrine from Reggio Calabria and its province, a new period for the 'Ndrangheta thanks to new lucrative businesses (most notably drug trafficking) and links to the political-institutional world, as well as the formation of the Santa, a secret society within the 'Ndrangheta established in the early 1970s to maximize the power and invisibility of the most important bosses.
[1] After the war Giorgio De Stefano had become extremely powerful (he had links with Cosa Nostra, politics, neo-fascist terrorists and others and was constantly expanding his influence.
By extorting a bribe of a building contractor already under the protection of the Piromalli's, De Stefano had committed a sgarro (insulting the honour and authority of a crime boss).
[1][4] 'Ndrangheta bosses Giuseppe Piromalli and Rocco Musolino were indicted as being responsible for the murder of Giorgio De Stefano, but were later acquitted for lack of evidence.