Real-Life Details That Were Left Out of Netflix’s Hit Series ‘Griselda’

Griselda is more than just Colombia’s answer to The Godfather. Otherwise known as La Madrina (The Godmother), Griselda Blanco was able to successfully create a cocaine network and pipeline from Colombia to the United States, dramatized in a new Netflix series.

Even if Netflix portrays Griselda as a person who acted out of fear, desperation, and paranoia, Griselda Blanco was without a doubt a ruthless kingpin back in her day. She was so feared that Pablo Escobar once said, “The only man I was ever afraid of was a woman named Griselda Blanco.” The Netflix rendition of Griselda showed how she had to kill her way to the top against other cartels in the United States, but reality is often more brutal than fiction.

Here are several chilling facts about Griselda’s life left out by Netflix.

10. Griselda’s first (allegedly executed) husband

Dixon, Uber, and Osvaldo were Griselda’s children from her first husband, Carlos Trujillo. She met Carlos at thirteen years old, and she had three children with him before she turned 21. They later divorced, but they remained business partners for marijuana distribution.

After having a disagreement in business, Griselda allegedly had Carlos executed. She was never convicted of this crime, and she moved on to marry her second husband, Alberto Bravo. Her second husband would be responsible for introducing Griselda into the cocaine business.

9. Arturo Mesa wasn’t real

Arturo Mesa was Griselda’s accountant and confidant in the Netflix series. He would later be brutally shot by Rafa Salazar in front of Griselda Blanco, who was visibly shaken up by the events.

It would be traumatic to have a longtime friend shot in front of anyone, but Arturo Mesa wasn’t a real person in Griselda’s life. Carla and Isa, two of Griselda’s friends who were beheaded, were also not real. They were fictional characters in the series whose deaths would further show the ruthlessness and brutality of the cartels. Even Griselda, who was able to carve her own path in Miami, wouldn’t be exempt from receiving losses.

8. Marta Ochoa was kidnapped and murdered

The Netflix series showed that Marta Ochoa overdosed, and Griselda had to clean up after her body in fear that the Ochoas would not believe that she had no involvement in Marta’s death. But according to the Cocaine Cowboys (2006) documentary about Cuban druglords, Marta’s death was caused by Griselda Blanco.

It was alleged that Griselda owed Marta $1,800,000, and she didn’t want to pay off her debt. It was also alleged that Marta was tortured before being killed and found on the side of the road in Dadeland, Miami.

7. Griselda allegedly killed her second husband for different reasons

It’s true that Griselda killed Alberto, but not because she was forced to sleep with his brother to clear his debts, as depicted in the series. It was believed that she killed Alberto because of missing drug profits.

Griselda Blanco killed her second husband, Alberto Bravo, by shooting him in the head. Just like at the start of the Netflix series, Griselda would also get wounded by a gunshot because she killed Alberto. Despite admitting to the murder, Griselda was never charged with killing Alberto.

6. Griselda was sexually exploited, but not by Fernando

Although the Netflix series explicitly accuses Fernando of sexually coercing Griselda to pay off her second husband’s death, there’s no evidence that suggests this happened in real life. But Griselda was already thrust into sex work as a thirteen-year-old girl in Medellin, Colombia.

It’s possible that the Netflix series added Fernando’s twisted subplot to further illustrate the sexual exploitation that Griselda experienced as a young woman.

5. Griselda didn’t call the cops on herself

The best way to go out is to call the authorities on yourself. That’s what happened in Griselda’s Netflix series. Instead of getting killed by vengeful Ochoas, Griselda sent her four sons away with Rivi and was arrested in a motel in Los Angeles.

But the real Griselda’s arrest was starkly different. She never turned herself in, and she was arrested in her own home by DEA agents. She was convicted of drug distribution charges as well as several murders.

4. Dario was unfaithful to Griselda

Dario Sepulveda was portrayed as a supportive figure and loving husband to Griselda in the Netflix series. He cared for her and was concerned about Griselda’s drug use and her violent outbursts. Ultimately, he would leave Griselda and take their son, Michael, with him.

While this could be true, Netflix left out the fact that Dario had an affair with a “topless dancer” from Fort Lauderdale. This detail doesn’t change the fact that Dario took Michael and fled for Colombia, which induced rage from Griselda.

3. Griselda possibly ordered Dario’s assassination

Dario Sepulveda wasn’t gunned down in his family home, as the Netflix series suggests. He was arrested by a couple of police officers and was ordered to get out of the car. But Dario decided to run, which led to him being gunned down by the cops.

Michael Corleone was in the car to witness his father’s shooting. It’s highly believed that Dario’s murder was ordered by Griselda, who wanted full custody of Michael. These events also happened before Griselda was arrested and sent to prison.

2. Griselda’s sons lived longer

Three of Griselda’s eldest sons met terrible fates, but Griselda didn’t lose them all before she was freed from jail. In fact, her sons were vital to the operation of the family’s drug business.

The assassinations of Dixon, Osvaldo, and Uber could allegedly be tied to the Medellin Cartel, out of vengeance against their mother. Michael Corleone, Griselda’s youngest, is the only surviving sibling. He left the notorious family business behind and now runs his own clothing company named Purely Blanco.

1. Griselda’s past caught up with her

Griselda lived a peaceful and idyllic life for eight years in Medellin after serving her sentence. Although the Netflix series ended Griselda’s story after losing her children, the real Griselda lived until she was assassinated by an anonymous gunman in 2012.

(featured images: Netflix)