- And in all that time,
she finds time to kill her third husband.
- Don't fuck with her.
- Bye hubby number three.
- You ready Curly?
- [Curly] Yeah.
- Today we're gonna learn about Griselda Blanco.
Queen of Cocaine, A.K.A La Madrina, A.K.A Black Widow.
Griselda did not get a fair chance starting out.
She was born in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Colombia
during a 10-year civil war,
so like one of the most murderous
and violent times in Colombian history.
Rumor has it that kids would
dig graves for fun.
- Wow.
- Because there was just so much murder
and so much violence, and so much war.
So what do you do when you're super poor,
and have nothing to do?
Legend has it neighborhood kids get together
and they kidnap a kid from a wealthier family,
and they hold him hostage,
and it's a little confusing whether
it's because the families didn't pay,
or whether the kid was trying to escape,
but Griselda is the one that shoot him.
- [Curly] Oh my god.
- [Claudia] So this is age 11.
- [Curly] Wow.
- That she has already killed a kid.
- What were we doing at 11?
- Wishing I had cable.
So fresh off the murder of this 10-year-old,
she starts being a pickpocket,
and getting into prostitution,
and somewhere around then,
she meets her first husband, Carlos Trujillo.
Kind of unclear. Are they dealing cocaine?
Are they starting they're own prostitution ring?
I wouldn't put anything past her.
She has three kids in this time.
- That's crazy, the life that people have lived
at a certain point already.
- She's like popping out these kids
and she's like this is number five
on my most intense experiences.
- Yeah.
- Like she's just already done so much.
(pop music)
It looks like Griselda's first husband
was just like starter husband.
She levels up with her second husband, Alberto Bravo.
And with Alberto Bravo, she really gets
deep in the cocaine trade.
They move to Queens, New York,
they're living between there and Colombia,
and because they have so many connections
in Colombia, they're racking up millions of dollars.
Like they're getting real rich.
- Oh listen but you could probably get
a lot for just this one bag.
- That's probably like a five pound bag of flour, right?
I mean, cocaine, uh, cocaine.
At the height of her drug trade,
she was moving 3,500 pounds.
700 of those they were moving every month.
- Wow.
- Across the border.
- She also supposedly spent money on very fun things,
as one would when you're bringing in eight million.
- Eight million dollars?.
- Like when she bought some jewelry that Eva Peron wore.
- Wow, Evita.
- Some diamonds or something, mmm, Evita.
All right, let's go over some facts about her in Miami.
- [Curly] Okay let's do it.
- [Claudia] So back in Miami,
she becomes the Queen of Cocaine,
and is responsible for assassinations in broad daylight,
and was even responsible for bayoneting
a competitive kingpin while at Miami Airport.
- [Curly] She don't fuck around.
- She bayoneted somebody, who does that?
And in all that time, she finds time
to kill her third husband, Dario Sepulveda.
Eventually Miami police gets wise.
They finally tracked her down.
She's like I gotta get out of Dodge,
so she goes to California.
- [Curly] Don't you feel like if you were
running from the law, though,
you wouldn't go to California, you'd go to, I don't know,
one of the Dakotas or something?
- But then what is it's like you're
sending yourself to prison then.
If you're going to the Dakotas.
- Yeah, but you could get yourself
a farm, a lot of land, and just be like
- I mean, I'm sure, 8 plus million goes real far in Dakota.
Is eventually arrested by the DEA.
So in '85, she begins a 13-year
prison sentence for drug charges,
then she's transferred to Florida
for all those murder charges.
Out of the supposed 200 that she was related to,
they were only able to get enough evidence
to try her for three.
So she gets out in 2004.
- So she's out?
- Well, she
So she gets out, she goes to live
in a gated community back in Colombia.
- Oh, okay.
- For the remainder of her days.
But, in 2012, she's killed
in a drive-by motorcycle shooting.
And she was one of the first people to
make that sort of like a common hit.
Drive-by motorcycle shootings.
She was 69 at the time.
- [Curly] I mean, that's a life.
20 years is a long time in prison, too.
I can say that.
- She did have a boyfriend while she was in prison, though.
- Good for her.
I can barely get a boyfriend out in real life.
- I know, right?
(cricket chirp)
- I'm both sad 'cause I'm like, wow, like, you know,
she was kind of put on the course
to this sort of lifestyle super early on as a child,
and then you're kind of like, you know, what do you expect?
- But a lot of people have that upbringing
and don't kill 200 people.
- Yeah.
- Griselda Blanco.
- Here we are.
I'd never wish to kill any of my boyfriends.
The worse I'd do is wish
that they gained weight and lose their hair.
(laughter)
That's what I would like.
- A sentence worse than death.
- That's worse.