Griselda Blanco

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other persons named Blanco, see Blanco.
Griselda Blanco
Griselda Blanco mug shot.
Born February 15, 1943
Medellín, Colombia
Alias(es) "La Madrina"
Penalty 20 years in prison
Status released deport to Colombia.
Occupation unknown

Griselda Blanco (b. February 15, 1943), also known as la Madrina, the Godmother, the Black Widow and the Cocaine Queen of Miami, was a drug lord and pioneer in the Miami-based cocaine drug trade and underworld. Blanco was known for her absolute ruthlessness and sociopathic behavior.

Contents

[edit] Early life and career

Blanco is believed to have been born in 1943 in Medellín, Colombia to a poor family, and eventually became a child prostitute at the age of 12. She emigrated to the United States and settled in Queens, New York City, in the mid-1970s, where she began her career in drug smuggling. After being indicted in New York, Blanco fled to Miami, where she expanded her operations and developed a reputation for being bloodthirsty, eccentric and a ruthless businesswoman. At her zenith, Blanco's personal fortune was estimated to be over a billion dollars. She was well known for absolute extravagance and was a regular collector of fine art and jewels. She was known to favor Haute couture.

Blanco is widely credited with much of the drug-related violence known as the Cocaine Cowboy Wars that plagued Miami in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when cocaine supplanted marijuana. Ironically, Blanco's violent business style brought much unwanted government scrutiny to South Florida, leading to the demise of her organization and the free-wheeling, high profile Miami drug scene of those times. She is thought to have masterminded over 200 murders during this time in the Dade County area in Miami, Florida.

[edit] Family life

Blanco was married three times and is believed to be a black widow, responsible for all three of her husbands' deaths by professional contract killers. She had four sons, the youngest of whom she named after the fictional character Michael Corleone played by Al Pacino in the movie trilogy The Godfather. Blanco's three eldest sons were eventually deported to Colombia and murdered shortly after their arrival.

[edit] Downfall

Blanco fled from the authorities in Miami and relocated in California, where she was later captured by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Somewhere around this time, she switched her base of operations to Irvine, CA, where she lived like an ordinary housewife with her youngest son, Michael Corleone Sepulveda. In 1985, Blanco was arrested in Irvine on narcotics trafficking charges by the man who had tracked her relentlessly for years, D.E.A. Agent Bob Palumbo. Blanco was extradited to Florida. She spent nearly 20-years in prisons in the United States and was released on June 6, 2004, then immediately deported back to Colombia.

Blanco's current status is unknown.

[edit] Publications

[edit] Books

[edit] Videos

  • Blanco was featured in the 2006 documentary film called Cocaine Cowboys.
  • Blanco will be featured in the upcoming 2008 documentary film called Cocaine Cowboys II: Hustlin' With The Godmother.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cocaine Cowboys II.

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

Languages