In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Blanco and the second or maternal family name is Restrepo.

Born

Griselda Blanco Restrepo

February 15, 1943

Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia[1]

Died

September 3, 2012 (aged 69)

Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia

Cause of death: gunshot wounds

Nationality: Colombian

Other names: La Dama de la Mafia (The Lady of the Mafia)

                      The Godmother

                      The Black Widow

Net worth: the U.S $2 billion (2012 estimate)

Criminal status: Deceased

 Spouse(s): Zulma Andino Trujillo

                    Alberto Bravo

                    Darío Sepúlveda

                   Charles Cosby

Children: 4

Parent(s): Ana Lucia Restrepo and Fernando Blanco

Criminal charge: Drug trafficking, murder

Griselda Blanco Restrepo (February 15, 1943 – September 3, 2012), known as La Madrina, the Black Widow, the Cocaine Godmother, and the Queen of Narco-Trafficking, was a Colombian drug lord of the Medellín Cartel and a pioneer in the Miami-based cocaine drug trade and underworld during the 1980s through the early 2000s. It has been estimated that she was responsible for up to 200 murders while transporting cocaine from Colombia to New York, Miami, and Southern California. She was shot and killed on September 3, 2012, at the age of 69.[6] At her height, Blanco was one of the richest and most dangerous women in the world and was one of the most powerful drug kingpins in the world. She became the first-ever billionaire female criminal, ruling her multi-billion dollar drug trafficking empire with an iron fist, and becoming one of the deadliest women of all time.

Griselda Blanco engaged in criminal activity at an early age and soon found success by trafficking cocaine. Blanco's street smarts and ruthless streak helped her rise to a top-level in the infamous Medellin Cartel, garnering her such nicknames as the "Queen of Cocaine" and "Black Widow." Following years of investigations, Blanco was arrested by federal agents in 1985 and spent nearly two decades in prison. She was gunned down in Colombia in 2012, at age 69.

Blanco was born in Cartagena on the country's north coast. She and her mother, Ana Black, moved to Medellín when she was three years old. Upon arriving there, she quickly adopted a criminal lifestyle. Blanco's former lover, Charles Cosby, recounted that at the age of 11, Blanco allegedly kidnapped, attempted to ransom, and eventually shot a child from an upscale flatland neighborhood near her own neighborhood. Blanco had become a pickpocket before she even turned 13. To escape the sexual assaults of her mother's boyfriend, Blanco ran away from home at the age of 9 and resorted to looting in Medellín until the age of 20. Griselda Blanco Restrepo was born in Cartagena, Colombia, on February 15, 1943. Raised by an abusive mother, Blanco turned to a life of crime and prostitution at a young age. She soon became involved with Colombia's infamous Medellin Cartel, helping to push Colombian cocaine throughout the United States, specifically to New York, Miami, and Southern California. Members of the cartel were able to smuggle large quantities of cocaine across the border using special undergarments that Blanco had presumably designed and manufactured.

Blanco was a major figure in the history of the drug trade from Colombia to Miami, New York, and California.

In the mid-1970s, Blanco and her second husband Alberto Bravo illegally immigrated to the US with fake passports, settling in Queens, New York. 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. She fled to Colombia before she could be arrested, but returned to the United States, settling in Miami in the late 1970s.

Blanco's return to the US from Colombia more or less coincided with the beginning of every public violent conflict that involved hundreds of murders and killings yearly which were associated with the high crime epidemic that swept the City of Miami in the 1980s. Law enforcement's struggle to put an end to the influx of cocaine into Miami led to the creation of CENTAC 26 (Central Tactical Unit), a joint operation between Miami-Dade Police Department and DEA anti-drug operation.

Blanco was involved in the drug-related violence known as the Miami Drug War or the Cocaine Cowboy Wars that plagued Miami in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This was a time when cocaine was trafficked more than marijuana. It was the lawless and corrupt atmosphere, primarily created by Blanco's operations, that led to the gangsters being dubbed the "Cocaine Cowboys" and their violent way of doing business as the "Miami drug war".

Her distribution network, which spanned the United States, brought in US$80,000,000 per month. Her 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.

In 1984, Blanco's willingness to use violence against her Miami competitors or anyone else who displeased her led her rivals to make repeated attempts to assassinate her. In an attempt to escape the hits that were called on her, she fled to California

n the mid-1970s, Blanco left Colombia for New York. By this time, the infamous drug trafficker was running a massive narcotics ring, her standing in the industry rising to a level that would match other kingpins like Pablo Escobar. However, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was on Blanco's trial, as part of a wide-ranging investigation termed "Operation Banshee." In 1975, after authorities intercepted a reported 150 kilograms of cocaine, Blanco and more than 30 of her partners were indicted on federal drug conspiracy charges. Blanco had already fled to Colombia by that point, but it wasn't long before she returned to the United States, this time settling in Miami.

Throughout her time in the United States, Blanco's continued involvement in the Colombian drug trade led to her participation in several other crimes, including drive-by shootings and other murders motivated by drugs, money, and power. By the late 1970s, detectives had linked her to dozens of murders, including a 1979 drug-rival shooting in a Miami liquor store, but she always managed to evade authorities.

In the 1980s, Blanco was living comfortably in a newly purchased home in Miami. By this time, the infamous drug trafficker had become a millionaire, and had taken on various nicknames, including the "Godmother," "Queen of Cocaine" and "Black Widow." However, her luck finally ran out in February 1985, when she was captured by DEA agents in Irvine, California.

Blanco's first husband was Carlos Trujillo. Together they had three sons, Dixon, Uber, and Osvaldo, all of them poorly educated, and all of whom were killed in Colombia after being deported following prison sentences in the United States.

Her second husband was Alberto Bravo. In 1975, Blanco confronted Bravo, who was also her business partner, in a Bogotá nightclub parking lot about millions of dollars missing from the profits of the cartel they had built together. The Guardian reports: "Blanco, then 32, pulled out a pistol, Bravo responded by producing an Uzi submachine gun and after a blazing gun battle, he and six bodyguards lay dead. Blanco, who suffered only a minor gunshot wound to the stomach, recovered and soon afterward moved to Miami, where her body count – and reputation for ruthlessness – continued to climb."

Blanco had her youngest son, Michael Corleone Blanco, with her third husband, Darío Sepúlveda. Sepúlveda left her in 1983, returned to Colombia, and kidnapped Michael when he and Blanco disagreed over who would take custody. Blanco paid to have Sepúlveda assassinated in Colombia, and her son returned to her in Miami.

According to the Miami New Times, "Michael's father and older siblings were all killed before he reached adulthood. His mom was in prison for most of his childhood and teenage years, and he was raised by his maternal grandmother and legal guardians." In 2012, Michael was put under house arrest after a May arrest on two felony counts of cocaine trafficking and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine. He appeared on a 2018 episode of the Investigation Discovery documentary series, Evil Lives Here, to recount his lonely childhood. In 2019, he was featured in the VH1 docuseries Cartel Crew, which follows the descendants of drug lords. He also runs a clothing brand, "Puro Blanco," that refers to his infamous mother.

Blanco was openly bisexual.

According to her youngest son Michael, Blanco became a born-again Christian.

Griselda Blanco is portrayed by the colombian actress Luces Velásquez in 2012 TV Series Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord as the character of Graciela Rojas.

The 2017 film, Cocaine Godmother is portrayed by Catherine Zeta-Jones.

In 2018, Griselda was mentioned in the chorus of NBA Young Boy’s song Slime Belief.

In 2012, American rapper Westside Gunn formed a record label called Griselda Records naming it after the infamous drug lord.

Griselda Blanco song by Toronto rappers Pengz and Twotwo

Blanco's story was a source of fascination for writers and artists even before her death. She was profiled in Richard Smitten's 1990 book, The Godmother, and was prominently featured in Billy Corben's 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys, as well as its 2008 sequel.

In 2016, it was announced that HBO was developing a film about Blanco's life, with Jennifer Lopez attached to star. The following year, Lifetime also threw its hat into the ring with a biopic titled The Cocaine Godmother, with Catherine Zeta-Jones as the titular character.

Watch Cocaine Godmother: The Griselda Blanco Story on Lifetime Movie Club