Cocaine Godmother

Cocaine Godmother explores the complicated life of Griselda Blanco, who at just 17 made her way to the US with a fake passport and her first husband Carlos. Living in Queens with her three sons, Griselda was enticed by the money the drug world offered, and quickly became embroiled with local drug runners. She masterminded the use of beautiful women, the elderly, and children as drug mules, and created false-bottom suitcases for smuggling cocaine from Colombia. With money rolling in, her sons abandoned school and entered the family business instead. A move to Miami would further expand Griselda’s empire and lead to the death of her second husband Alberto, giving the rise to her nickname: The Black Widow. Her willingness to use violence against her Miami competitors led her rivals to make repeated unsuccessful attempts to kill her. In order to protect her youngest son and third husband Dario, Griselda moved to California, where she was later arrested by the DEA and sentenced to a decade in jail. The case against her collapsed and, upon her release, she was deported to Colombia, where she was ultimately gunned down in 2012. In her lifetime, Griselda’s drug distribution network spanned the entire United States and she was suspected of ordering over 200 murders. (Camerimage)