Griselda Blanco‘s story has been told several times on the screen, both in documentary and fictionalized accounts, and most recently in Griselda on Netflix, a dramatized version with Sofia Vergara in the starring role. Here’s who finally brought down the “cocaine godmother.”
In case you haven’t seen the show, here’s some context: For decades, Blanco, born in Colombia in 1949, was a central figure in the cocaine drug trade and a rumored member of the infamous Medellín drug cartel founded by Pablo Escobar. In the 1970s and 1980s, cocaine flowed into major American cities like New York and Miami through Blanco, and in turn, Blanco earned millions each month. When your child is named Michael Corleone, like Blanco’s son, you know you’re dealing with a criminal mastermind who means business.
Before long, U.S. law enforcement caught up with Blanco, and by 1985, Blanco was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Blanco would later face a series of murder charges brought about when one of her most trusted associates snitched on her.
Blanco’s “right-hand man” agreed to testify against her
While serving 15 years on drug charges, Jorge “Rivi” Ayala, Blanco’s right-hand man and rumored former lover, who also served as her hitman, agreed to testify against his former boss in Florida, alleging he carried out killings Blanco ordered. Ayala’s testimony collapsed when he was embroiled in a phone sex and bribery scandal involving secretaries at the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office, the AP reported in 1998.
That same year, however, Blanco pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 more years in prison. In the end, Ayala was just one of many who flipped on Blanco, including Jesus Castro and Carmen Caban, who testified at Blanco’s drug trials.
In 2002, Blanco suffered a heart attack while in prison, and because of those health problems, she was released in 2004 and deported to Colombia. She was killed by an assassin in her home country in 2012.