Griselda Blanco was born on February 15, 1943, in Cartagena de Indias. She was one of the pioneers in the creation of cocaine trafficking networks from Colombia to the United States.
She was nicknamed “The Black Widow” and “The Queen of Cocaine.” She is known as Pablo Escobar’s mentor, as she was the one who showed him the first route to send cocaine to the United States and advised him on how to distribute it in New York and launder the money.
The DEA estimated her fortune to be over 500 million dollars. She died on September 3, 2012, after receiving two gunshot wounds to the head.
What Was Griselda Blanco’s Youth Like?
Griselda Blanco had a difficult youth, growing up in a very poor household alongside her mother.
She had to commit petty thefts to be able to get some money and afford food. Her first murder occurred at the age of 11 when she and her group of friends kidnapped a 10-year-old from a wealthy family.
They held the child for 15 days, waiting for the family to pay the ransom, but when they refused, Griselda decided to take a gun and shoot him in the forehead.
Who Was the Husbands of Griselda Blanco?
Her first husband was José Trujillo, who worked as a document forger. With him, she had three children: Uber, Osvaldo, and Dixon. He died in 1970 at the hands of Griselda for having deceived her with another woman.
Later, she married for the second time in New York to her former lover, Alberto Bravo.
Together, they formed a cartel that moved hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and employed thousands of traffickers in the country.
Bravo later returned to Colombia to personally oversee drug shipments to the United States. Suspecting that he was stealing from her, Griselda traveled to Colombia and murdered him.
She then married Darío Sepúlveda, with whom she had only one child, named Michael Corleone Sepúlveda Blanco, revealing her admiration for a character from Francis Ford Coppola’s famous movie.
Michael became the cause of a bitter dispute between the couple, which ended with the violent death of his father.
Why Was Griselda Blanco Called The Black Widow and The Queen of Cocaine?
The Black Widow” was the nickname some gave her, alluding to the arachnid species whose female kills and consumes its mates after mating. This association arose due to the belief that she killed each of her husbands.
“The Queen of Cocaine” nickname originated when Griselda paid someone in London to bribe an individual inside Buckingham Palace and steal a set of dishes owned by Queen Elizabeth.
One day, at a party, she displayed the stolen dishes and declared, “I am the queen of cocaine.
How Did Griselda Blanco Get Involved in Drug Trafficking?
During the early years of the seventies, Griselda Blanco met the man who would become her second husband, Alberto Bravo, a cocaine trafficker. Together, they migrated to New York City, United States, where they established a network for trafficking the white powder.
It was the two of them who popularized the term ‘mule,’ used to describe a person who smuggles any type of drug from one country to another.
At that time, there was no mention of the Medellín or Cali Cartel, and figures like Pablo Escobar, Amado Carrillo, or El Chapo Guzmán were not yet known.
During that period, cocaine was relatively unknown, as authorities were primarily focused on the trafficking of marijuana and heroin. This made it quite easy for them to transport it.
How did Griselda Blanco transport cocaine?
To transport it, they used talcum powder bottles, corn flour for making arepas, and suitcases with double bottoms. Griselda had underwear and women’s vests specially made with compartments to place the drugs. She also concealed it within the soles of shoes.
Later on, they began using planes to transport it directly from Colombia, generating hundreds of millions of dollars per month.
It is said that in 1976, during the celebration of the bicentennial of the independence of the United States, the Colombian Navy ship “Gloria” would have been loaded with cocaine following Griselda Blanco’s orders.
Griselda Blanco Receives an Arrest Warrant Against Her
In 1973, in an effort to combat the increasing drug trafficking, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was established. In 1975, authorities intercepted a shipment containing 150 kilograms of cocaine, the largest drug seizure case at that time.
Griselda and more than 30 of her associates were charged with federal drug conspiracy offenses. The investigation was known as “Operation Banshee” and was led by Agent Bob Palombo. However, Griselda managed to escape to Colombia before they could apprehend her.
Griselda Travels Again to the United States
In the late 1970s, Griselda returns to North America, this time to the city of Miami to continue her lucrative business. In Miami, cocaine distribution was controlled by some Cuban exiles and Native Americans.
Griselda disliked the idea of having to share the market with other drug traffickers; she wanted to be the owner and lady of it all.
Thus, alongside her trusted associate Jorge Ayala, also known as ‘Riverita,’ and a group of hitmen, they embark on a pursuit to seize control over the leaders of each of their rivals.
She imposed her law literally with blood and fire, acting as if she was on the streets of Medellín, shooting from one car to another with rifles. She was ruthless with her enemies, killing them, attending their funerals, and even sending them flowers.
She spared no one whom she felt had disrespected her. The homicide rate in Miami per one hundred thousand inhabitants went from 13.2 in 1971 to 24 in 1984. This wave of violence became known as the ‘Cocaine Cowboys War.
Murders in Miami
Among the most well-known murders committed by Griselda Blanco are:
On July 11, 1979, two hitmen, associated with ‘The Black Widow,’ assassinated her former associate, German Jiménez, and his bodyguard while they were purchasing a bottle of whiskey at a liquor store in CC Dadeland. It is believed that he had stolen merchandise from her.
In February 1982, one of Griselda’s sons had a dispute with someone in a bar and attempted to seek refuge at the home of an employee of his mother, Jesús Castro, also known as ‘Chucho.’ However, Chucho was already distancing himself from that dark world and refused him entry.
This greatly displeased Griselda, who sent two of her men to kill him. The hitmen stopped their car next to Chucho’s, who was with his 2-year-old son Johnny Castro. Chucho realized they were going to shoot him, lowered his head, avoiding the bullets, but his son was not as fortunate and received two shots to the face.
In May 1982, she murdered the spouses Alfredo and Grizel Lorenzo, who had failed to pay her for five kilograms of cocaine she had sold to them. The bodies were found tied up in one of the rooms of their residence.
Griselda Blanco Flees to California
In 1984, feeling cornered by the police and the DEA, Griselda Blanco travels to California seeking refuge. She seizes this opportunity to also expand her operations.
Her son, Dixon, is in San Francisco, moving around 660 pounds monthly. Uber, from Miami, transports 440 pounds per month. Osvaldo, from Los Angeles, moves 1100 pounds monthly.
Griselda lives with her mother and her youngest son, Michael, in a middle-class neighbourhood in Irvine, California.
The police had completely lost track of the drug trafficker, but her luck would change in October 1984, when a woman called the Miami anonymous tip line to report concerns about her daughter, suspecting that she was dating a Colombian drug dealer.
Fortunately for them, the individual in question turned out to be Uber Trujillo, Griselda’s son.
How Was Griselda Blanco Captured?
Officer Robert Palombo had sworn not to rest until he captured The Black Widow, and with the help of a Colombian inmate in Oklahoma who collaborated with the police as an informant, he managed to infiltrate Uber.
The informant obtained recordings using carefully hidden microphones. In these recordings, Uber boasted about the lavish life they led and how they controlled the business of his mother, who was almost retired.
By orders of the DEA, the informant began laundering Griselda’s money, moving hundreds of millions of dollars in her name.
Everything was going smoothly until they decided to try to obtain merchandise from The Black Widow.
The DEA instructed the informant to contact Griselda and tell her that he needed help with the preparations for a party he wanted to throw. This was done, and Griselda put him in touch with her trusted man, Jorge Ayala.
The informant met with Ayala to finalize the details of the party. Everything was proceeding normally until the informant said that he needed drugs.
Ayala looked at him with suspicion and asked what he was talking about; that ended the meeting. The informant tried to contact Griselda, but it was impossible.
Once again, they had lost track of Blanco, but Palombo didn’t give up, and that’s when he decided to go back to the starting point: her children.
Osvaldo was fond of luxury cars and often visited a dealership in Beverly Hills. Palombo knew this, so for weeks, they monitored the place in the hope that he would appear, and he did.
Following Osvaldo, he led them directly to the house where Griselda was hiding.
On the morning of Sunday, February 17, 1985, a squad of DEA agents arrived at Blanco’s house and found her in her room reading the Bible.
When Agent Palombo confronted her, she said her name was Paty, and she was a housekeeper from Venezuela.
After searching the room, they discovered a .38 caliber pistol, concluding that the woman was indeed Griselda Blanco.
That’s when Agent Palombo fulfilled the promise he had made to himself to give Griselda a kiss on the cheek when he captured her.
Trial and Conviction
It was initially thought that Griselda would receive a life sentence, but due to the skills of her lawyers, this did not happen.
On November 8, 1985, Judge John Cannella sentenced her to 15 years in prison without the possibility of bail. She was sent to a federal prison in Dublin, California.
Griselda Continues Criminal Activities Within Prison
Charles Cosby was a small cocaine trafficker in Oakland. He saw the news about Griselda’s arrest on television and was overwhelmed when he learned about the amount of drugs she was capable of moving and all the money she managed to generate.
He couldn’t wait for the opportunity to meet her, knowing that if he could do business with her, he would become a millionaire.
Fortunately, one of his friends had worked as a ‘mule’ for Griselda, and he asked her to contact Griselda and tell her that he wanted to meet her.
The girl informed Griselda about Cosby, and she agreed to have contact with him. After exchanges of letters and phone calls, the eagerly anticipated day arrived.
The first time Cosby and Griselda met, she gave him a hug and a passionate kiss on the mouth. After that, they sat down and began to negotiate. Cosby told her that he needed 50 packages, and Griselda immediately agreed.
Three days later, a Latina woman knocked on Cosby’s door, bringing the order from ‘The Widow.’ Within a month, he had more money than he had ever dreamed of in his life.
Cosby’s job was straightforward because everything in Griselda’s organization worked flawlessly. He not only became the lover of the Widow but also took control of a significant part of the network managed by Griselda in the United States.
According to Cosby, the Griselda he knew, beyond the violent image, was an intelligent person with great ideas who liked to take risks and always cared about her son, Michael Corleone.
Murder of Osvaldo Trujillo, Griselda Blanco’s Son
In 1992, while Griselda was serving her sentence, her son Osvaldo was released from prison. He immediately went to Medellín and met with Pablo Escobar, who was then in La Catedral prison. Osvaldo brought a radio telephone used at that time and placed it on a table.
He began talking to Pablo about a large cocaine shipment ready to be sent to the United States. However, Escobar responded that he was already retired and just wanted to serve his sentence in peace.
Escobar suspected that the DEA had given the radio telephone to Osvaldo to record him and gather evidence for possible charges. Nevertheless, Escobar chose not to take action against him, believing that Osvaldo acted for his mother, and Escobar valued family.
On the streets, Osvaldo started speaking ill of Escobar, claiming that he was nobody now and that he would take control of Medellín.
Pablo learned about this and ordered Mario Alberto Castaño Molina, AKA “El Chopo,” one of his trusted men who was not imprisoned in La Catedral, to assassinate him. On September 19, 1992, Osvaldo Trujillo was murdered
Griselda Blanco Faces New Charges
Griselda Blanco was worried about her future. In 1993, Florida prosecutors were trying to add new murder charges, which could lead her to the electric chair.
Her great fear was dying in a U.S. prison, so she suggested to her lover to kidnap John Kennedy Jr., the son of the former president, and thus force the U.S. government to reduce her sentence. Although Cosby gathered several men to carry out the kidnapping, it never took place.
Griselda began having issues with Cosby when she found out he was cheating on her with another woman and sent two of her men to shoot him from a car.
Cosby emerged unharmed since it was just a warning, but after that, he began to fear for his life. He decided to cooperate with the justice system against Blanco.
Not only did Cosby decide to testify against Griselda, but her former trusted man, Jorge Ayala, also chose to do the same. This way, Blanco received ten new murder charges, including that of the child Johnny Castro.
Ayala received special treatment for his collaboration. He received gifts and could converse with the secretaries in the offices.
One day, it was made public that Ayala had allegedly been engaging in phone sex with several of the secretaries, and one of them even confessed to being in love with the killer.
Years of work were lost. The prosecution saw him as a tainted witness whom the jury would not believe, so the case was damaged.
In 1998, prosecutors decided to propose a deal to Griselda. She would plead guilty to three of the murders committed by her hitmen, and in this way, she would escape the electric chair. Griselda agreed and received a sentence of 20 years, of which she had already served 13.
Griselda Blanco is Released
On June 6, 2004, at the age of 61, Griselda Blanco was released. She arrived in Bogotá on a DEA flight and immediately headed to Medellín. Many believed she would be dead in just a matter of days, but to the surprise of many, this did not happen.
By the year 2012, Griselda was living in a residential complex in El Poblado. From there, she made preparations for her son Dixon’s 50th birthday.
On February 15, there was another grand celebration, marking Griselda’s 69th birthday. This would be the last time she would have the opportunity to celebrate.
How Did Griselda Blanco Die?
On one ordinary day in September 2012, living a common life as the matron with a turbulent past at the age of 69, she walked down Street 29 in Medellín. Having just left the Cardiso butcher shop with her purchases, she headed towards her residence.
In the distance, she heard but ignored the noise of a motorcycle accelerating, only to stop very close to her.
The passenger got off and, as part of a scene so often repeated in the city, approached her to deliver two shots to the head, leaving her lifeless immediately. The elusive gunman then returned to his position on the two-wheeled vehicle and disappeared into traffic.
Thus, a hitman ended Griselda’s life in such an ordinary manner. The woman who managed to evade the justice of Uncle Sam and who shook the foundations of Miami in the seventies.
Approximately 60 people attended her funeral. There were mariachis who played a total of 15 songs. Griselda is buried in the Jardines Montesacro cemetery, next to those who were once her allies and at other times her enemies, Pablo Escobar and Gustavo Gaviria, approximately 120 meters from them.
Photos of Griselda Blanco
Below, you can enjoy a series of photos of Griselda Blanco with her son Michael Corleone and her lover Charles Cosby.
