The Netflix series Griselda has attracted a lot of attention, yet there are certain themes that it has chosen not to dissect in detail: how much money did the drug lord really pocket?
Recreating the journey of the Godmother for the small screens was not easy: between injuries on the set and problems encountered with the Blanco family who disapprove of certain choices made by the creators, Griselda had to fight to appear in the catalog from Netflix.
But this persistence seems to have paid off, the docufiction series on the drug baroness appearing at the top of the other programs, annihilating all competition, like the terrifying godmother facing her adversaries. However, if many elements of Griselda Blanco’s life appear, others are passed over in silence in favor of the main themes.
This is particularly the case of the “queen of coca” salary, which is only addressed in an evasive manner. We know she ends up rich and powerful, but how rich?
How much money did Griselda Blanco pocket?
At the height of her drug empire, Griselda Blanco’s fortune was estimated at around $2 billion – so we can assume she was earning around $80 million a month.
They say crime doesn’t pay, but Griselda Blanco still pocketed up to $2.6 million in a single day. Such sums led to her being considered a richer person than the famous gangster Al Capone, whose fortune had been estimated at around $1.3 billion.
In the Netflix limited series, Griselda Blanco is seen leaving Colombia in the 1980s to start her own drug empire from (almost) scratch. But in reality, its distribution network was not limited to Miami: from New York to California and beyond, the Godmother’s merchandise could be found.
In addition to its thriving import-export business, it is estimated that Griselda Blanco had built up a solid real estate asset: we would be talking here about 500 million dollars, including 120 million in real estate which was seized by the American authorities.
Griselda: The End of an Empire shown in the Netflix series
As shown in the Netflix series, Griselda Blanco was first arrested in 1985, after being charged with conspiring to manufacture, import and distribute cocaine. Her case was then transferred to the New York court, where she was found guilty, her original sentence being 15 years.
She was also convicted of homicide after a lengthy sentencing process. But the Godmother experienced health problems around 2002. This was enough for her release to be agreed in 2004, to be sent back to Medellín, Colombia – the city she had initially sought to flee.
Griselda Blanco was last seen publicly in 2007, before she was killed in a shooting in 2012.
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