Who was Griselda Blanco? The notorious criminal at the heart of Netflix's lethal new series January 15, 2024 - Cosmopolitan UK
Colombian drug trafficker Griselda Blanco was famously known as the "godmother of cocaine" and now she's the subject of a new Netflix drama series.
Starring SofĂa Vergara, 'Griselda', is a six-part limited series inspired by the woman who headed up one of the world's most notorious drug empires.
From the creators who brought us Narcos and Painkiller, 'Griselda' is sure to shock, scare, and, possibly, scandalise, viewers. Above all, it is likely to leave people wondering about the real-life story behind the series.
Known too as the Black Widow, Griselda Blanco is believed to have killed hundreds of people, including her three husbands, before she was killed in a drive-by shooting.
Her story is one of violence, horror and tragedy, one which was central to Miami's infamous drug wars.
Who was Griselda Blanco?
Griselda Blanco was known by many names (Cocaine Godmother, Black Widow, La Madrina), such was her reputation as a cocaine trafficker.
A mother of four and a drug lord, she lived to the age of 69. Born in Cartagena in Colombia in 1943, her mother was sex worker who struggled with addiction and who beat her violently.
Griselda, whose early years were marred by poverty and crime, reportedly making her first kill aged 11. Like Griselda, her victim was a child, a boy from a wealthy family. She shot the boy when his parents refused to to pay the ransom.
Age 12, she became a sex worker, eventually moving in with and marrying a pimp, Carlos Trujillo. It was together with her second husband, a trafficker named Alberto Bravo (with whom she moved to New York), that Griselda established her coke empire.
Women would attract less suspicion as smugglers, she suggested, so they would adapt women's underwear then use these tactic to transport their goods.
Like in her first marriage, a business dispute arose. Griselda allegedly confronted her husband over millions of dollars that had gone missing. The story goes that a gun fight ensued, Alberto was killed, Griselda survived, and the empire was hers for the taking. Her third husband, a killer named Dario Sepulveda also met a grizzly end when he was assassinated. Thus, suspicions were raised over her role in the death of each of her three ex-husbands' deaths.
What was Griselda Blanco's net worth?
Ruthless and cold-blooded, Griselda went on to make millions, if not billions, through her drug empire (with some estimates putting her net worth as high as $2 billion).
Griselda was known for her ruthlessness in her quest to accrue money and power, even naming her son with Sepulveda, Michael Corleone, for Al Pacino's character in The Godfather. Estimates suggest she could have been smuggling up to 1.5 tonnes of cocaine into the US per month at the height of her criminal career.
It is also believed she was responsible for up to 250 deaths, with suspicions raised over her role in the death of each of her three husbands.
Why was Griselda Blanco arrested?
In 1985, Griselda was arrested and sentenced for drug trafficking, before she was indicted on three murder charges during her time in prison. Two of the charges, which dated back to 1982, related to the killing of two brothers. The third related to a two-year-old boy, the son of her alleged target.
Griselda spent almost two decades in prison after entering a plea deal, before she was deported to Colombia in 2004.
Who killed Griselda Blanco?
Griselda was killed in Medellin in 2012 by two men on a motorcycle, who opened fire on her outside a butcher's shop, in an ironic twist of fate for the drug lord, who is said to have popularised the practice of using hitmen on motorbikes to carry out assassinations.
So, despite her quiet 'retirement' in Colombia - police said they had no evidence she had re-offended upon her return in 2004 - she died as she lived: violently.
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