Sofía Vergara currently stars in Netflix’s latest gritty crime thriller based on the scandalous life of Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco. Also hailed as the Godmother of Cocaine, Blanco grew up in an environment filled with horror, death, and abuse, and these were the catalysts that forced her to engage in the world of drug trafficking.
It is insane to know that at a young age, she has committed a lot of crimes already. Here are some spine-chilling facts about the drug queenpin that people ought to know before watching Vergara’s screen adaptation:
1. Griselda Blanco Had A Horrible Childhood
Blanco was born on February 15, 1943 and grew up in the coastal city of Cartagena. After her father abandoned their family, she and her mother, a s*x worker, subjected her to poverty and violence. At a young age, she turned to pickpocketing and prostitution to make ends meet.
The most horrible crime she did to earn money was to kidnap a wealthy child to extort ransom, as per Daily Mail. When the family refused to pay, the 11-year-old Blanco shot the boy in the head. That was her first-ever murder.
2. The Black Widow
The Colombian queenpin was married three times. She moved in with her first husband Carlos Trujillo when she was only 13. They shared three children and later moved to New York in 1964. When their marriage fell apart, she reportedly had him assassinated.
She later married Alberto Bravo who helped her kick-start their cocaine empire. When the authorities began chasing them, they returned to Colombia. A rift in their relationship started to occur. Blanco suspected Bravo of secretly funneling their money, forcing her to shoot him at close range in the face at a nightclub.
Her third husband, Dario Sepulveda, also did not escape her wrath and was shot after he took their son away from her back to Colombia.
3. Lavish Lifestyle
Griselda Blanco’s drug smuggling operation earned her as much as $80 million per month, and this allowed the Godmother of Cocaine to host luxurious parties and org**s in her mansion in Miami. The queenpin would order people to have s*x at gunpoint and even had eight strippers killed for their involvement with her husband.
4. Only 15 Years In Prison
A warrant of arrest was issued in May 1975, but Blanco was not formally apprehended until February 1985. After a rigorous trial, the drug lord pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 15 years of prison in addition to a $25,000 fine. Bob Palombo, the DEA agent who hunted Blanco for years, claimed she could have gotten the electric chair for all the crimes she did.
5. Death At Age 69
Griselda Blanco went back to Medellin, and there she met her end in 2012 after she was shot point blank twice at a butcher’s shop by two men on a motorcycle. At the time, she was with her daughter-in-law, but the girl was left unharmed. As Sofía Vergara told BBC, “This is why I wanted to play Griselda. She is a mother, villain, lover, and killer all at the same time. She above everyone shows how complex humans can be.”
Griselda is available to stream via Netflix.
