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Griselda is the new Netflix miniseries that has us in its grips, following the story of infamous Colombian drug tafficker Griselda Blanco. A six-part series starring Sofia Vergara as you've never seen her before, Griselda sees the Modern Family actor transform using extensive prosthetics to take on the role of the “Cocaine Godmother”.
Inspired by a true story, Griselda Blanco rose to prominence in the 1970s and 80s in the otherwise male-dominated illegal drug trafficking rings, being responsible for one of the most profitable cartels in history.
Known for her ruthless nature, the real-life crime boss also earned the name of “Black Widow” for good reason, with the series opening with the quote from Pablo Escobar: “The only man I was ever afraid of was a woman named Griselda Blanco.”
In the new series, we follow the turbulent rise and ultimate fall of Blanco, reliving the key moments of her ascent to prominence in Miami and many casualties along the way. Joined by the likes of Karol G, and Vanessa Ferlito, Vergara not only stars as Blanco but also executive produced the series.
On her decision to take on the project, Vergara told Entertainment Weekly “We didn’t want to romanticise her or make her a hero, because she wasn’t. But no matter what anyone says, this was a very interesting character.”
Intrigued? Here's everything you need to know about Griselda Blanco and the story that inspired the series.
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Who is Griselda Blanco?
Griselda Blanco was a prolific drug dealer who rose to power in the 70s and 80s. Netflix's adaptation picks up from when Blanco is based in Miami after fleeing her abusive drug dealer boyfriend. With no income and three children to provide for, she asks her friend Carmen for a job at her agency, with Blanco quickly realising that she stands to make more money selling drugs, just as her ex did.
Born in 1943 Colombia, according to Collider Blanco was raised by an alcoholic mother and grew up in poverty, with her allegedly kidnapping and holding a wealthy boy for ransom, with Blanco ultimately killing the boy when his parents didn't comply.
A year on, Blanco met the pimp Carlos Trujillo and began working for him, with the duo moving to New York when she was just 13-years-old. By the time Blanco was 21, the pair were married and had three children.
After their relationship ended, Blanco allegedly had Trujillo killed before she went on to marry her second husband Alberto Bravo. Together, they started smuggling cocaine into America through her husband's clothing import money via the fabric of women's bras and girdles.
This detail is slightly tweaked in the Netflix adaptation, with Blanco instead hiring immigrants to smuggle cocaine sewn into their bras. Once they arrive in America, they deliver the garments to Blanco who cuts the cocaine and sells it on.
Blanco and Bravo led their successful drug trafficking operation for years together, earning millions of dollars along the way. However, things went south after Blanco accused him of embezzling funds, with the confrontation culminating in a shootout in Bogotá which saw Blanco survive a gunshot to the stomach and Bravo ultimately die. The face-off also saw six bodyguards killed according to The Telegraph, with the entire encounter thought to be the basis for her nickname of “Black Widow”.
Come 1978, Blanco and her new husband Dario Sepulveda moved to Miami and Blanco quickly ascended to become one of the biggest drug dealers in history, running the cartel herself with an estimated $1.5 billion in sales before she was ultimately arrested in 1985.
How was Griselda Blanco caught?
As you can imagine, pinning down mastermind Griselda Blanco was no small feat, with it being notoriously hard to find anyone willing to speak against her and the cartel boss moving around regularly to avoid arrest.
While the Netflix series sees Griselda call authorities to arrest her, in reality Griselda Blanco was arrested at her home in Irvine, California on 17 February 1985 after being tracked by DEA agents for roughly ten years.
On her arrest, agent Bob Palombo told The Independent “She was pretty tough and standoffish, a typical Colombian move I would say, nonchalant, not really showing any real emotion, but when we put her in the car, I was in the backseat with her, and the other agent was driving. We drove up to Los Angeles, and when we got close to the courthouse is when she became visibly shaken."
She was convicted of one count of conspiracy to manufacture, import into the US, and distribute cocaine, with Blanco serving a 15-year sentence for the offence.
In 1994, Griselda Blanco was also charged for the death of a former cartel member's son Johnny Castro, a two-year-old boy who was tragically and mistakenly killed in a Blanco-ordered hit. In 1998 she pled guilty to the second-degree murder charges, leading to her prison sentence being reduced by six years.
How did Griselda Blanco die?
According to the BBC, in 2004 Blanco was released from prison and retired from the cocaine business, being deported to Colombia. But while she may have been out of the game, Griselda still had a lot of enemies around, with her ultimately being shot by a gunman in 2012 as she left a butcher shop in Medellín.
As she left the building an assassin on a motorbike shot her twice, notably the same tactic that Blanco's hitmen allegedly used at the pinnacle of her career.
What happened to Griselda’s children?
Blanco had four sons with her two husbands: Osvaldo, Uber and Dixon Trujillo, as well as Michael Corleone Blanco.
According to Biography.com, Blanco’s three older sons Dixon, Uber, and Osvaldo all went on to follow in their mother's footsteps and become drug traffickers, with each dying before she did.
Blanco’s youngest son, Michael, however is still alive, and recently filed a lawsuit against Netflix and Vergara over Griselda.
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