“Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” – Matthew 26:52 –
February 14, 1943 – Cartagena, Columbia – One of the most notorious criminals in history is born. Her name is Griselda Blanco Restrepo. She will become as feared as Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, Joseph Bonanno, and Pablo Escobar.
1946 – The three year old and her mother move to Medellín. She is instantly exposed to a criminal lifestyle. She embraces it.
1954 – At the age of 11, she kidnaps, attempts to ransom, and eventually shoots a child from an upscale flatland neighborhood near her own neighborhood. She knows nothing of remorse or regret.
1962 – After years of abuse, she finally escapes the sexual assaults of her mother’s boyfriend. Griselda runs away from home and resorts to looting in Medellín and engages in prostitution to support herself financially.
1964 – Griselda illegally immigrates to the United States with false passports and settles in Queens, New York, with her three children and husband. She establishes a sizable business based on a new American demand; cocaine. She will succeed with her criminal empire while living in the United States for 11 years.
April 1975 – She is indicted by a federal grand jury on drug conspiracy charges along with 30 of her subordinates. She flees to Colombia before she can be arrested, but returns to the United States and settles in Miami in the late 1970s.
Her return coincides with the beginning of public violent conflicts, including hundreds of murders and killings yearly associated with the high crime epidemic that sweeps the City of Miami in the 1980s. The Mariel Boatlift, when Fidel Castro opened his prisons and sent thousands of criminals and political prisoners 90 miles by boat to Miami provides her with the muscle to thrive.
The struggle by law enforcement to put an end to the influx of cocaine into Miami leads to the creation of CENTAC 26 (Central Tactical Unit), a joint operation between the Miami-Dade Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) anti-drug operation.
Griselda becomes involved in the drug-related violence known as the Miami Drug War that plagued Miami in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This is a period when cocaine was trafficked more than any other drug.
Her distribution network, which spans the United States, is earning $80 million per month.
1981 – Republican President Ronald Reagan takes office after handily defeating Jimmy Carter. Reagan is strong, can effectively communicate, and is aware of the problem in Miami. He and Democrat House Speaker Tip O’Neill agree to raise the budget for the DEA and attack the problem in south Florida after one of their frequent after hours glass of wine. Griselda realizes that she can neither fight nor run from the United States government now.
February 17, 1985 – Griselda is arrested in her home by the DEA and charged with conspiring to manufacture, import, and distribute cocaine. The case goes to trial in federal court in New York City where she is found guilty and sentenced to 15 years.
While serving her sentence, she is charged with three counts of first degree murder by the state of Florida. The prosecution makes a deal with one of her most trusted hit men, Jorge Ayala, who agrees to testify against her.
However, the case collapses due to technicalities relating to a scandal between Ayala and two female secretaries who work in the state attorney’s office.
1998 – Griselda pleads guilty to three counts of second degree murder and is sentenced to 20 years in prison. Four years later, she suffers a heart attack in her cell.
2004 – She is released and deported to Medellín, where she lives a quiet life.
During her lifetime, Griselda murdered countless people who dared to cross her. She allegedly killed three of her four husbands and given the nickname of the “Black Widow.”
She and her first husband, Carlos Trujillo, had three sons together in Medellín, all born before she turned 21.
She had her youngest son, Michael Corleone Blanco, with her third husband, Darío Sepúlveda. Sepúlveda left her in 1983, returned to Colombia, and kidnapped Michael when the couple disagreed over who would have custody.
It was not a wise decision.
She paid to have Sepúlveda assassinated in Colombia, and her son returned to her in the US.
According to the Miami New Times, “Michael’s father and older siblings were all killed before he reached adulthood. His mother was in prison for most of his childhood and teenage years, and he was raised by his maternal grandmother and legal guardians.”
2012 – Michael becomes involved in his mother’s business. He is put under house arrest after being sentenced on two felony counts of cocaine trafficking and conspiracy to traffic in cocaine.
September 3, 2012 – Griselda and her pregnant daughter-in-law buy $150 worth of meat at Cardiso butcher shop on the corner of 29th Street in Medellín. As she exits, an assassin on a motorcycle shoots her twice, killing her. The drive-by motorcycle shooting mimics the same assassination style that she was often credited with introducing to Miami during her drug reign.
History and the Bible are clear when it comes to living a violent life. Those who do so will always have a violent end.