Since Netflix released the series “Griselda”, the story of drug trafficker Griselda Blanco has become topical and many have really wondered how she died.
This woman was born on the Caribbean coast of Colombia (Santa Marta) in 1943 and built an entire drug empire in the United States that preceded what Pablo Escobar and other drug traffickers would achieve years later.
The power gained by this woman was so great that it made Miami the most violent city in the United States, with shootings and murders of all kinds in the 1980s.
She was known as the “Black Widow” or “Queen of Cocaine” for everything she did in directing the transport of this illegal drug into the territory of the United States.
Griselda started what became known as the “Cocaine Cowboys War” by hiring hitmen to murder her enemies.
Investigators believe this woman’s actions paved the way for other drug traffickers.
However, until then very little was known about his story Netflix I decided to make a series that is trending.
With actress Sofia Vergara’s interpretation, Griselda Blanco has become relevant and many have wondered why this Colombian had so much power.
A criminal career
This woman was born in Santa Marta in 1943 and moved to Medellín at a young age with her mother, Ana Lucia Restrepo.
Her family’s poverty led Griselda to take the path of crime, and at just 11 years old, she took part in the kidnapping of a child who was later murdered after his family refused to pay his ransom.
Years later, this young woman turned to prostitution and took part in petty robberies on the streets.
That’s how she met Carlos Trujillo, a man who was dedicated to forging documents and who convinced her to emigrate to New York in 1964.
With him she had three sons, Dixon, Uber and Osvaldo (all murdered), but their romance did not last long and they separated. While this was happening, Griselda Blanco had many ambitions and it is believed that she would have ordered the murder of Carlos after her divorce, but she actually died of liver cirrhosis.
But she got into the world of drug trafficking through her second husband, Antonio Bravo. Together they managed to form a team that would develop an overall strategy that would allow them to bring cocaine from Colombia to the United States.
Their plan focused on transporting cocaine in the secret compartments of young women’s underwear, as well as in shoe heels, dog cages and even wigs.
The specialist portal Insight Crime reports that “The Godmother”, as she was also called, transported 1.5 tons of cocaine every month. It also managed to supply the New York, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles markets.
Griselda became the “Queen of Cocaine”
In 1970 they moved to Miami and here the entire criminal network began alerting the authorities.
Drugs, violence and death began to spread terror in this city. They had already done all of this before the creation of the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in 1973.
Griselda Blanco’s criminal actions made her the “Queen of Cocaine” and it is estimated that she earned around $80 million a month from the drug trade.
“She was a key figure in the expansion of the cocaine trade into the United States and pioneered the trafficking routes and methods that shaped the business for decades,” Insight Crime reports.
All this power was represented in mansions, parties and all sorts of luxury goods. However, it also turned Miami into a battleground where around 200 murders were reported.
She founded “Los Pistoleros,” a group of hitmen who used motorcycles and were crucial to their criminal operation. It wasn’t until 1975 that she was officially accused of drug trafficking, but she evaded US justice by moving through several cities and returning to Colombia.
This year, the Medellín cartel led by Pablo Escobar and other drug traffickers was still in its infancy, while Griselda already had extensive experience in the world of drug trafficking.
Already in her homeland, she began to suspect that her husband Antonio Bravo was stealing her money, and so she also decided to end her life, as shown in the Netflix series.
But that wasn’t all, because her third husband, Darío Sepúlveda, also died because of her decision and from then on received the nickname “Black Widow”.
How did Griselda Blanco die?
In the late ’70s, Griselda returned to Miami to find a city where she had left her, with shootings and a booming drug trade, as well as the presence of new bosses.
The latter caused her to harbor some enmities with other criminals, but she once again managed to regain her position and consolidate her empire. Pressure from the DEA and her enemies forced her to move to California in 1984.
A year later she was arrested and taken to New York, where she was charged with drug trafficking and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Nevertheless, her business continued and Griselda decided to plead guilty to all crimes in exchange for a lesser sentence.
The Colombian was released from prison in 2004 and deported to Colombia. The so-called “Queen of the Drug Trade” had amassed numerous enemies who persecuted her and her family.
However, in September 2012, she was approached by a hitman who murdered her using the same method she had devised: a motorcyclist shot her twice as she left a butcher shop in the city of Medellín.
In this way, Griselda Blanco died at the age of 69, putting an end to a whole crime story that was unknown to many until Netflix released the series that bears her name and that was a trend.
You might be interested in: