Griselda Blanco

Early life Griselda Blanco Restrepo was born in Cartagena, Colombia, on the country's north coast. She and her mother, Ana Restrepo, moved south to Medellín when she was three years old; this exposed her to a criminal lifestyle at an impressionable age, as Medellín was enduring years of its own socioeconomic and political troubles. Blanco's former lover, Charles Cosby, recounted that, at the age of 11, she allegedly kidnapped, attempted to ransom, and ultimately shot a child from an upscale neighborhood near her home. Blanco had become a pickpocket before she was a teenager. To escape the sexual abuse of her mother's boyfriend, she ran away from home at the age of 19, thieving in the city center until the age of 20.

Drug business

Blanco was a key figure in the establishment of the cocaine trade between Colombia and large North American cities like Miami and New York, as well as to dealers in California. Her distribution network, which spanned across the United States and Colombia, earned $80million per month. The struggle by law enforcement to end the influx of cocaine into Miami led to the creation of CENTAC 26 (Central Tactical Unit), a joint operation between the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) antidrug operation.

Arrest On February 17, 1985, Blanco was arrested in her home by DEA agents and subsequently charged with conspiring to manufacture, import, and distribute cocaine. The case went to trial in federal court in New York City, where she was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

While serving her sentence, she was charged with three counts of first-degree murder by the state of Florida. The prosecution made a deal with one of Blanco's most trusted hitmen, Jorge Ayala, who agreed to testify that Blanco had ordered him to carry out the killings; however, the case collapsed due to technicalities relating to a phone sex scandal between Ayala and two secretaries employed at the state attorney's office. In 1998, Blanco plead guilty to three counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, to run concurrently.

In 2004, Blanco was released from prison in the United States after serving her full sentence and was deported back to Colombia.

According to the Miami New Times, "Michael's father and older siblings were all killed before he reached adulthood. His mother was in prison for most of his childhood and teenage years, and he was raised by his paternal grandmother and legal guardians." Michael's probation ended in 2018. 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 on the VH1 docuseries Cartel Crew, which follows the descendants of drug lords. He also runs a clothing brand, Pure Blanco.

According to Michael, his mother became a born-again Christian in her later years.

Death On September 3, 2012, Blanco and her pregnant daughter-in-law went to the Cardiso butcher shop on the corner of 29th Street in Medellín. As she exited, an assassin on a motorcycle shot her twice in the head, killing her. In 2010, Florida rapper Jacki-O released a mixtape titled La Madrina - Griselda Blanco. In 2011, rapper Lil Kim referenced Blanco in her "Warning Freestyle"; in 2016, she referenced Blanco again, in the song "Diego", on the record Lil Kim Season. She was portrayed by Colombian actress Luces Velásquez in the 2012 television series Pablo Escobar, The Drug Lord (as the character of Graciela Rojas). In 2012, American rapper Westside Gunn formed a record label called Griselda Records, named directly after Blanco. In the 2012 Meek Mill song "Believe It", Rick Ross states, "Rest in peace, Griselda Blanco." In 2013, American rapper Pusha T mentions Blanco in the song "Pain" from his studio album My Name Is My Name. La viuda negra (The Black Widow) was a 2014 Spanish-language telenovela produced by RTI Producciones and Televisa for United States-based television network Univisión and for Colombia-based television network Caracol Televisión. It is an adaptation of the book La patrona de Pablo Escobar of José Guarnizo, based on the story of Griselda Blanco; Blanco is portrayed by Ana Serradilla. "Griselda Blanco" appears in Marlon James' Booker Prize-winning novel A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014). Korean-Canadian rapper Paul Blanco created his stage name after her, following the Chicago drill rappers' trend of having drug lord stage names. In an early leaked version of Kanye West's 2016 song, "Famous", fellow rapper Young Thug mentions Blanco. In the 2017 song Portland (song) by Drake fellow rapper Quavo references Blanco in his lyrics. In Nicki Minaj's verse in Fetty Wap's 2016 single "Like a Star", Minaj references Blanco in her closing lines. In the television film Cocaine Godmother (2018) on Lifetime, Blanco was played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. "Griselda Blanco", a song by Toronto drill rappers Pengz and Two Two, was certified Platinum in Canada. In 2018, French rappers Booba and Maes composed a song, "Madrina", referring to Blanco. YoungBoy Never Broke Again's 2018 song "Slime Belief" references Griselda multiple times in the chorus. In Nicki Minaj's unofficial 2019 remix of DaBaby's "Suge", Minaj references Blanco in her opening line. In Nicki Minaj's verse in Chance the Rapper's 2019 song, "Slide Around", Minaj references Griselda Blanco and Pablo Escobar. Blanco is portrayed by Sofía Vergara in the six-part Netflix miniseries Griselda (2024).