Who Was Griselda Blanco? Inside the Life of the Cartel Leader Who Inspired Netflix’s Griselda

Griselda Blanco, known as “The Godmother of Cocaine”, La Madrina (“The Godmother”), La Jefa (“The Boss”), and The Black Widow, was a ruthless cocaine queen whose reign in Colombia lasted nearly five decades.

Griselda was notorious for her innovations in the drug trade, even opening her own underwear factory to make underwear with hidden pockets for female smugglers to transport cocaine undetected. Authorities believed she was behind hundreds of murders, including those of her three husbands.

She was also reportedly so proud of her lifestyle that she even named one of her four sons after the legendary fictional gangster Michael Corleone.

“I don’t think the fact that she was a woman trying to prove something had anything to do with her violent behavior; I just think that was inherent in Griselda Blanco. It goes back to her life, the way she was raised. She was just a violent person,” said former DEA agent Bob Palombo, who spent years investigating Griselda Maxim in 2008.

After learning all about the business in New York, she became a key player in the 70s Miami drug scene, which included Pablo Escobar. While there were rumors of a possible mentor-mentee relationship between them, he was said to be afraid of Griselda. “The only man I ever feared was a woman named Griselda Blanco,” Escobar reportedly told the BBC.

Griselda, previously immortalized by Catherine Zeta-Jones in the 2017 Lifetime film. Cocaine godmotherwill play Sofia Vergara again in the Netflix limited series Griseldawhich debuts January 25, 2024

The legends and myths about the Cocaine Godmother are almost endless, but there is much to learn about her life and crimes. Here’s everything you need to know about Griselda Blanco, including her rise to power, family and death.

Who was Griselda Blanco?

Grisleda Blanco poses next to the cake.

Michael Corleone Blanco Instagram

Griselda Blanco was born in Cartagena, Colombia on February 15, 1943, according to Spanish newspapers El País. She moved to Medellín, Colombia with her mother during her early years.

Griselda’s life of crime began at a young age. When she was 11, Griselda allegedly kidnapped a boy and killed him when his wealthy parents did not pay the ransom, according to Vice. According to the media, she devoted herself to prostitution and pickpocketing the following year. As a 13-year-old, she lived with the alleged pimp and document forger Carlos Trujillo, who became her first husband.

Griselda and Trujillo had three sons, but the marriage did not last. Per Vicethe couple had a falling out over their growing criminal empire, leading Griselda to divorce Trujillo and later kill him.

In the 1960s, she moved her family to Queens, New York, with her second husband, cocaine trafficker Alberto Bravo, hiding her criminal proceeds through her clothing import business, according to Vice. Griselda opened her own lingerie factory in Colombia, producing clothes with hidden pockets for drug smuggling.

Griselda Blanco. GDA/AP

Fast forward to 1975, their illegal operation was now known as the Alberto Bravo Organization and when the authorities came knocking, Griselda and Bravo were among 150 people arrested, according to The New York Times. The newspaper wrote that it is considered “the largest Colombian drug organization ever exposed.” They were eventually charged with conspiracy to manufacture, smuggle and distribute cocaine in the US, according to CNN.

The indictment came after Griselda and Bravo fled federal investigators back to Colombia, where they planned to continue their work. However, when they returned, Griselda and Bravo reportedly had an argument. Per Maxim, she shot him and survived the bullet in the stomach. After that, Griselda took control of their entire cocaine business.

In 1978, she married her third husband, Daría Sepúlveda, with whom she had a son, Michael Corleone Blanco, named after Godfather character. The trio secretly returned to the US and settled in Miami, Florida that same year, where Griselda continued to rule her cartel – as well as her seemingly endless killing spree.

The most infamous killing was the July 1979 shooting at the Dadeland Mall, in which two of Griselda’s killers killed German Jimenez Panesso and his bodyguard Juan Carlos Hernandez and wounded several others, according to NBC Miami. Panesso was allegedly involved in the Colombian drug trade.

What crimes did Griselda Blanco commit?

Pictures by Griselda Blanco.

Archive PL / Alamy ; Florida Bureau of Corrections/AP

After a decade on the run, Griselda was arrested in Irvine, California in February 1985. According to the United Nations Drug and Crime website, when she was stopped by US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers, she gave them a false name and false identification. In the end, a jury sentenced her to 15 years in prison and a fine of $25,000.

While serving a federal sentence in New York, the state of Florida charged Griselda with three counts of first degree murder. However, the case was thrown out after the prosecution’s main witness, Griselda supporter Jorge Ayala, had phone sex with Miami-Dade County prosecutor’s secretaries, according to The Tampa Bay Times.

Special prosecutors in Orlando took over the case in 1999, and Griselda pleaded guilty to two murders, New York Post reported. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison, to be served concurrently with a 15-year federal sentence, on Vice.

Assistant State’s Attorney Stephen Schlessinger, who prosecuted Griselda, believes she committed and ordered many more murders than the three she was charged with.

“It would certainly be dozens. We have no idea here how many murders she authorized in Colombia,” Schlessinger said. Miami Herald. “She was a complete sociopath. She killed people on the spur of the moment. She would kill anyone she didn’t like, because of a debt, because they messed up a shipment or she didn’t like the way they looked at her.”

Griselda was released from prison in 2004 and deported to Colombia, where she lived for the rest of her life.

Who were the husbands of Griselda Blanco?

Griselda Blanco’s third husband Darío Sepúlveda and their son Michael Corleone Blanco.

Michael Corleone Blanco Instagram

Griselda married her first husband Carl Trujillo as a teenager in Colombia. After they divorced, Griselda allegedly had Trujillo killed.

Griselda’s second husband, Alberto Bravo, helped her develop her cocaine empire in the US and lived with her in Queens in the late 1960s. After learning that they had been targeted by federal agents in an investigation in 1975, Griselda and Bravo went to Colombia, where they ended up shooting each other in an argument over their jobs – and only Griselda survived.

Griselda married her third husband, Daría Sepúlveda, in 1978. That same year, they welcomed a son, Michael Corleone Blanco, in Colombia before quietly moving to Miami. According to Miami New TimesGriselda had Sepúlveda killed in 1983. By that point, the couple had been estranged after infidelity and custody disputes.

The newspaper reports that Griselda always wanted Michael with her, while Sepúlveda wanted to send their son to school. When she refused his request, Sepúlveda took Michael to Colombia, where Griselda allegedly shot Sepúlveda in his car while Michael was sitting right next to him. The then five-year-old was returned to his mother in the USA

How did Griselda Blanco die?

Grisleda Blanco poses for an outdoor photo.

Michael Corleone Blanco Instagram

Griselda was killed by an assassin in Medellín, Colombia on September 3, 2012. She was outside a butcher’s shop when a masked man shot her twice in the head and then drove away on a motorcycle. Miami Herald reported. Members of the police force told the newspaper that they had considered Griselda dead for years.

“It’s surprising to all of us that she wasn’t killed sooner because she made a lot of enemies,” said former Miami homicide detective Nelson Andreu. “When you kill as many and hurt as many people as she does, it’s only a matter of time before they find you and try to even the score.”

She was allegedly with her pregnant daughter-in-law at the time, who was unharmed in the shooting.

How old was Griselda Blanco when she died?

Tomb of Griselda Blanco.

Daniel Romero / VWPics / AP

Griselda was 69 years old when she was killed. Miami Herald she reported that her daughter-in-law was in their car at the time, and after Griselda was shot, she placed the Bible on Griselda’s chest.

Griselda’s former romantic partner, Charles Cosby, told the outlet that she “found religion in her later years,” adding, “At the same time, you can’t bring a Bible to a shooting.”

Where are Griselda Blanco’s sons now?

Grisleda Blanco and her son Michael Corleone Blanco are photographed together.

Michael Corleone Blanco Instagram

Griselda had four children. She and her first husband Trujillo had three sons: Uber Trujillo, Dixon Trujillo and Osvaldo Trujillo. Griselda gave birth to her youngest son Michael Corleone Blanco with her third husband Sepúlveda.

Most notably, Michael became a reality star on VH1 Cartel Crew, in which he claimed he started working for his mother’s cocaine business when he was 12 years old. After Griselda’s arrest in 1985, he led a quiet and private life with relatives, traveling between Colombia and the US and staying near his mother’s correctional facility in California, according to Miami New Times.

After Griselda’s death in 2012, he decided to change his life path and not follow in her footsteps. Uber, Dix and Osvaldo were allegedly killed before Michael came of age because of their involvement in the drug business, according to the newspaper.

“When I received that phone call and knew my mother was dead, I realized that our previous cartel lifestyle was completely over. I had to make a choice right then and there,” he told PEOPLE in 2019.

Michael continued: “I had to evolve and become a different person in order to end that relationship, so that my children would not have to live the life that I lived. It was not easy, and to this day it is very difficult for me.”

Today, Michael is the owner of the Pure Blanco lifestyle brand. As for his mother’s presence in pop culture, he has worked on several projects about her, but sued Netflix and Vergara, alleging that his “private artistic literary work” was stolen and inspired Griseldaaccording to Rolling stone.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education