Greselda Blanco: Cocaine Cowgirl

Throughout this class I have learned much,  from all the things I have learned from this class, one thing really stood out to me. That one thing being the documentary we watched called “Cocaine Cowboys”. In the documentary there were numerous characters that I had never heard of, but one of them I found fascinating. That was Greselda Blanco, the so called cocaine queen, cocaine cowgirl, or the Godmother of Medellin.

                In the 1970’s into the 80’s Blanco was one of the biggest figures in the Colombian to Miami cocaine drug trade. She smartly started in the trade by having women sew secret compartments in their underwear to transport drugs. She helped to establish smuggling routes and distribution routes, some of these routes would be used for over 20 years after she was arrested. What I found most interesting about her was the way she ran her drug trade. Another interesting fact I found within the article was the fact that she involved her sons in the drug trade, from a young age. She was very over protective over sons, and if she felt that you slighted them or disrespected them she would have you killed.

                The main reason why I founded her extremely interesting was the fact that she was a women, and dominated in traditionally male dominated field. The article mentioned how she was often overlooked by authorities because she was a women. This in one aspect led to her immense power and dominance. It was said that case agents found it difficult “to convince superiors that she was a big deal”. Overall this article gave me great insight into Greselda Blanco aka the cocaine cowgirl. She did many things that at the time weren't expected at all by women and she did it dominantly.

Smith, J. (2014). Cocaine Cowgirl: The Outrageous Life and Mysterious Death of Griselda Blanco, The Godmother of Medellin. Trends in Organized Crime, 17(1-2), 132-134. Retrieved October 27, 2014, from http://download.springer.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/static/pdf/788/art%3A10.1007%2Fs12117-014-9220-1.pdf?auth66=1414717713_d6f31c4017a5aca33a293333cefd0649&ext=.pdf