Griselda Blanco

Griselda Blanco
Born	February 15, 1943 (1943-02-15) (age 68) Cartagena, Colombia[1]
Alias(es)	La Dama de la Mafia (The Mafia Lady) The Godmother The Black Widow
Charge(s)	Drug trafficker
Penalty	20 years in prison
Status	Released, deported to Colombia
Occupation	Unknown
Children	4 sons

Griselda Blanco (born February 15, 1943) is a former drug lord for the Medellín Cartel, and was a pioneer in the Miami-based cocaine drug trade and underworld during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Biography

Blanco was born on 15 February 1943 on the north coast of Colombia, and moved to Medellín when she was three years old. In the film Cocaine Cowboys II: Hustlin' with the Godmother Blanco's former lover, Charles Cosby, recounts how Griselda, at age 11, allegedly kidnapped, tried to ransom and eventually shot a child from the upscale flatland neighborhood near her hillside slum neighborhood.^[1][2] By her preteens, she had become a pickpocket, and at the age of 14 she ran away from her physically abusive mother and resorted to prostitution for a few years in Medellín.^[1][2]

In the mid-1970s, Blanco and her second husband, Alberto Bravo, emigrated to the United States, settling in Queens, New York City. They established a sizable cocaine business there, and in April 1975, Blanco was indicted on federal drug conspiracy charges along with 30 of her subordinates, at that time the biggest cocaine case in history. She fled to Colombia before she could be arrested, but in the late 1970s she returned to Miami.^[1][2]

Blanco was involved in 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.^[3] Her distribution network, which spanned the United States, brought in US$8 million per month.^[1] Blanco's violent business style brought 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 suspected of having masterminded over 200 murders during this time in Dade County.^[3]

In 1984, Blanco's willingness to use violence against her Miami competitors, or anyone who displeased her, led her rivals to make repeated attempts to kill her. She moved to California to escape the assassination attempts. On 20 February 1985, she was arrested by DEA agents in her home. Held without bail, Blanco was sentenced to more than a decade in jail. She continued to run her cocaine business while in jail. By pressuring one of her lieutenants, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office obtained sufficient evidence to indict her for three murders. However, the case collapsed, largely due to technicalities and Blanco was released from prison and deported to Colombia in 2004.^[1] Her whereabouts are unknown, but she was last seen in Bogota Airport in 2007 where a photo was taken of her.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Brown, Ethan (July 2008). "Searching for the Godmother of Crime". Maxim (Alpha Media Group): 94–98. ISSN 1092-9789. http://www.maxim.com/humor/articles/57005/searchingforthegodmotherofcrime.html. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Corben, Billy (director); Cosby, Charles (actor); Blanco, Griselda (actor) (29 July 2008). Cocaine Cowboys 2: Hustlin' with the Godmother (DVD). Magnolia Home Entertainment. ASIN B00180R03Q. UPC 876964001366. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1176726/. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Corben, Billy (director); Roberts, Jon (actor); Sunshine, Al (actor); Burstyn, Sam (actor); Munday, Mickey (actor); Palumbo, Bob (actor) (23 January 2007). Cocaine Cowboys (DVD). Magnolia Home Entertainment. ASIN B000KLQUUS. UPC 876964000635. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380268/. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 

References

• July 2008 issue of Maxim Magazine. The article is titled The Female Scarface: The Rise and Fall of the Deadliest Woman Alive
• Cocaine Cowboys 2: Hustlin' With The Godmother

Further reading

• Smitten, Richard (1 November 1990). The Godmother: the true story of the hunt for the most bloodthirsty female criminal of our time. Pocket Books. ISBN 9780671701932. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. http://replay.web.archive.org/20090207084259/http://www.richardsmitten.com/godmother.html. Retrieved 3 October 2010. 

External links

• Cosby, Charles. "Cocaine and Hustlin'". Charles Cosby. Charles Cosby. Meeting Griselda Blanco. 
• Washington Post: Drugs
• Red Orbit: Cocaine 'Godmother' Released From Prison
• Female Scarface

Persondata
Name	Blanco, Griselda
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	15 February 1943
Place of birth	Cartagena, Colombia
Date of death
Place of death