Griselda Blanco

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For other persons named Montana, see Blanco.
 This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations of additional sources. (September 2008)
Griselda Blanco
Griselda Blanco mug shot.
Born February 15, 1943 (1943-02-15)
Medellín, Colombia
Alias(es) "La Madrina"
Charge(s) drug trafficker
Penalty 20 years in prison
Status Released, deported 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.

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[edit] Early life and career

Blanco is believed to have been born in 1944 in Medellin, Colombia to a poor family. In the film Cocaine Cowboys II: Hustlin' with the Godmother Blanco's former lover Charles Cosby recounts a story how Griselda, at 11, allegedly kidnapped, tried to ransom, and eventually shot a child from the rich part of her slum. Her father left the family early and her mother became an alcoholic. Her mother would beat Blanco often until Blanco left home. She then 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. She was well known for absolute extravagance and was a regular collector of fine art and jewels. She was known to favor Haute couture. She was the seller of most of the cocaine in the Miami area.

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[citation needed]. 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.[citation needed]

[edit] Family life

Blanco, a so-called "black widow," is believed to be responsible for all three of her husbands' deaths (by professional contract killers[citation needed]). 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.

According to her ex-boyfriend, Noe Tellez, Griselda Blanco openly admitted to being bisexual.[1][2]

[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 immediately deported back to Colombia.

In the July 2008 issue of Maxim, it was written that an email from a friend was sent to the director of the film Cocaine Cowboys that contained a picture of Griselda Blanco, who was last seen and pictured at the Bogota Airport on May 13, 2007.

[edit] Publications

[edit] Books

[edit] Videos

[edit] Magazines

[edit] References

  1. ^ MEETING GRISELDA BLANCO
  2. ^ Queenpins of the Cali Cartel - "Always an active bi-sexual, Blanco used only female mules, who wore lingerie Blanco had designed herself and which were sold in her Medellin Boutique."

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griselda_Blanco"
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