As one of the most talked-about figures, Griselda Blanco has built a significant fortune. Our team analyzed the latest data to provide a clear picture of their income.
What was Griselda Blanco's Net Worth?
After running her evil empire for nearly a decade, Griselda was eventually caught and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1985. She was released early, then deported to Colombia over a technicality. She was murdered in 2012 at the age of 69.
Creative Commons Public Domain
Griselda Blanco was a notorious drug trafficker who had a peak net worth of $2 billion during her lifetime. She is generally regarded as one of therichest drug dealers of all time. As we detail in the next section below, at the time of her death, Griselda is believed to have owned$500 million worth of real estate, $120 million of which was seized by American authorities.
Griselda Blanco was known as "the Black Widow," or "La Madrina," and the "Cocaine Godmother." She rose to fame and power in the 1980s, running cocaine for the Medellin Cartel and designing special undergarments that would help cartel members smuggle cocaine across the border.
Griselda Blanco was born Griselda Blanco Restrepo on February 15, 1943, in Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia. Blanco moved to Medellín with her abusive mother, Ana Lucía Restrepo, at age 3, and by age 13, she was a pickpocket and prostitute. She developed a taste for violence very early, and at just 11 years old, Griselda and a group of friends abducted a 10-year-old boy from an upscale neighborhood, and when the child's family refused to pay the ransom, Blanco shot and killed the boy. When Griselda was 14 years old, she left home in order to escape her mother's boyfriend, who had been sexually abusing her.
At the time of her death, Blanco reportedly owned property worth approximately $500 million. The feds seized four of Griselda's properties that were worth 2 billion pesos (around $118.7 million), and it is believed that she owned hundreds more, including an apartment that cost 550 million pesos ($32.6 million).
Blanco was a key player in the drug trade in the 1970s and 1980s in Colombia, California, Miami, and New York. Griselda and second husband Alberto Bravo used fake passports to illegally immigrate to America in the mid-1970s. They settled in Queens, New York, and after starting a cocaine business there, Blanco and more than 30 of her associates were indicted on drug conspiracy charges. She evaded arrest by returning to Colombia, and a few years later, she moved to Miami, where her operations contributed to an atmosphere of corruption and lawlessness known as the Cocaine Cowboy Wars/Miami Drug War. Griselda's business was incredibly lucrative, bringing in $80 million per month. In 1984, Blanco's competitors grew tired of her propensity to use violent tactics against them, and they tried repeatedly to assassinate her, leading Blanco to move to California.
Blanco was one of the largest distributors of cocaine throughout the country in the '70s and '80s. She was also one of the most murderous crime bosses of all time and was allegedly responsibly for at least 200 murders of men, women, and children (though the number could be as high as 2,000). Many of her victims were involved in the drug business, but others were completely innocent bystanders. Griselda worked closely with Colombian drug kingpinPablo Escobar, who was a friend from childhood, and she was frequently called "the Black Widow" because all three of her husbands ended up dead.
In summary, the total wealth of Griselda Blanco reflects strategic moves.
Disclaimer: All net worth figures are estimates based on public data.