Everyone has heard of Pablo Escobar and El Chapo, but these female drug dealers were equally ruthless! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the most infamous female narcos, ranging from assassins, to money launders, to cartel bosses.
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00:00 "Does your boss know what you're doing? What he's gonna do to you, Johnny, when he finds out?"
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most infamous female narcos,
00:08 ranging from assassins to money launderers to cartel bosses.
00:12 "When she was taken into custody a few months later, her brothers were arrested,
00:16 so she was pretty fundamental in bringing down her entire clan."
00:20 Griselda Blanco. Some called her the cocaine godmother. Others dubbed her the Black Widow,
00:27 a title attributed to the deaths of her three husbands.
00:30 The name Griselda alone was enough to intimidate anyone, which allegedly included Pablo Escobar.
00:36 "Was it for Griselda Blanco, there would be no Pablo Escobar."
00:39 Before she was even a teenager, Blanco was linked to kidnapping and murder.
00:45 Blanco only got more blood on her hands as she became a leading figure in the Miami drug war.
00:50 "En esta maletica, nosotros tenemos el poder de devolverle la emoción a esas vidas aburridas,
00:58 y que se les vuelvan excitantes otra vez."
01:02 It'd take the authorities nearly a decade to arrest Blanco.
01:05 "After over 10 years of intense investigation, Miami and Metro Police say they have enough
01:10 evidence to pin the 1982 murders of three Dade County people on this woman, 51-year-old Grisela
01:16 Blanco." While Blanco could have been responsible for over 200 deaths, most of them didn't factor
01:22 into the charges against her. Released and deported in 2004 due to health issues, Blanco
01:28 survived another eight years before she was gunned down by a motorcyclist, a move from her own
01:34 playbook.
01:34 Growing up in Guatemala near the border of Mexico, Cotón Vázquez was abducted and forced into
01:42 marriage by the time she was 18. After her cruel husband left, she provided for her five children
01:48 by selling illegal goods. Cotón Vázquez's second husband was Juan Alberto Ortiz López,
01:54 a drug lord whom she inherited the business from. Gaining ties to Sinaloa cartel leader
01:59 Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, Cotón Vázquez became known for her violent tendencies and
02:04 taking on a hands-on role in trafficking. The formerly low-income woman reportedly moved 40
02:10 tons of cocaine between Central America and North America before being captured in 2014.
02:15 Cotón Vázquez regained her freedom by supplying testimony that would put away fellow narcos,
02:20 supposedly returning to her hometown of Maracatán.
02:23 "Queenpin" is a term that can be applied to many women, but there's only one "Queen of the Pacific."
02:32 Whereas Griselda Blanco and Sebastiana Cotón Vázquez essentially came from nothing,
02:39 Sandra Ávila Beltrán was born into the drug world. She shares family ties with Rafael
02:44 Caro Quintero and Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, co-founders of the Guadalajara cartel. Don't call
02:50 her a "Nepo" narco, though. This drug lord ascended to the top of the cartel world,
02:55 commanding ships that smuggled tons of cocaine between Mexico's Pacific coast and North America,
03:00 hence the "Queen of the Pacific" title.
03:02 No, no descansas. Estás cambiándote constantemente de ciudad, de casa. No puedes tener amistades,
03:12 no puedes ver a tu familia. Es agobiando.
03:19 After being arrested in 2007 and extradited to the U.S. five years later, Ávila Beltrán was
03:24 released in 2015. She currently resides in Guadalajara a free woman.
03:29 Enedina Arellano Félix Enedina Arellano Félix is another
03:34 drug queenpin who has kept it in the family. Along with her six brothers, Félix became synonymous
03:39 with the Tijuana cartel. Initially, money laundering and finances were Félix's areas of
03:45 expertise. After her brother Eduardo was arrested in 2008, Enedina stepped up as the organization's
03:50 head.
03:51 Me pareció buena idea que nos conociéramos todos. Necesitamos más.
03:57 Al menos 700 kilos esta vez.
04:00 Enedina's tactics might be more business-oriented than her brothers,
04:03 who were more prone to violence. Of course, nobody becomes the leader of a cartel without
04:09 being ruthless. As journalist Javier Valdez said,
04:12 "The women who rise high in it are very rare. They have to be extremely intelligent,
04:18 talented, and brave." Enedina Arellano Félix is a prime example,
04:23 making connections with other prominent traffickers while keeping the authorities at a distance.
04:27 Where Enedina Arellano Félix has a fairly peaceful approach,
04:38 Melissa Calderón is as violent as they come. By the time she was in her 20s,
04:43 this Mexican native had joined the Sinaloa cartel, eventually becoming the head of its
04:47 subdivision, the Damaso Cartel. Following the death of her boyfriend,
04:51 Calderón lost this position to Sergio Villareal Barragán, aka "El Grande."
04:56 Unwilling to take this lying down, Calderón teamed up with another boyfriend,
05:01 Héctor Pedro Camarena Gómez. Adopting the names "La China" and "El Chino,"
05:06 the couple commanded an army of killers known as "Las Fuerzas Especiales de los Damaso."
05:11 More than 150 deaths have been traced to Calderón,
05:15 who led an estimated 300 sicarios before her capture in 2015 and subsequent incarceration.
05:21 Earning the alias "Doña Digna," Baye came from a notorious drug trafficking family.
05:28 Every month, they transported cocaine said to be worth tens of thousands.
05:33 Locals feared Baye's brothers, who were known for capturing and assaulting women.
05:38 Baye herself was every bit as callous, believing anyone who knew too much about her family should
05:43 be killed. At the same time, Baye and her family commanded respect throughout their community.
05:48 In exchange, Baye supplied security and jobs with limitless wealth at her disposal.
05:53 "So you have families like the Baye Cartel sort of being these alternative powers
05:58 and creating their own kind of governments."
06:00 After Baye was arrested while visiting Miami in 2014,
06:04 her brothers unsuccessfully plotted to assassinate the president of Honduras for
06:08 failing to protect them. Baye ultimately pleaded guilty to drug trafficking,
06:12 although she'd serve a little over half of her 10-year sentence.
06:16 "If the Baye family ever felt that that loyalty was not honored, they would often
06:21 send out people to kill villagers that they didn't think were onside."
06:26 María Guadalupe López Esquivel
06:29 This cartel boss gained a reputation for being as alluring as she was lethal.
06:33 Esquivel joined the New Generation Cartel in 2017 upon entering a romantic relationship with fellow
06:39 member Miguel "El M2" Fernández. It didn't take long for Esquivel to climb up the chain of command,
06:45 becoming much more than an assassin. She was practically a soldier,
06:49 leading charges against the police, military, and National Guard.
06:53 Esquivel became known as "La Catrina," a name linked to the Day of the Dead.
06:58 Although this spoke to Esquivel's merciless methods, it also foretold her fate.
07:03 In January 2020, Esquivel was hit in the neck during a shootout.
07:07 A helicopter arrived to escort her out of the area, but the 21-year-old died shortly after liftoff.
07:12 Mareixa and Mayra Limos
07:15 It's not uncommon for drug traffickers to have government connections.
07:19 The Limos sisters had especially close ties, their brother Magno being mayor of Mojuta.
07:24 After a heart attack claimed his life in 2009, Mayra stepped in to finish his term.
07:29 Feared by the community, rumors circled that Mayra murdered her husband, among others.
07:34 Mayra aspired to remain in office, organizing a campaign in 2011.
07:39 That same year, Mayra and seven others were gunned down in the massacre at Los Cuernos.
07:44 Mareixa attempted to run in her sister's place, only to lose.
07:48 Not long after, Mareixa was brought in on kidnapping and murder charges,
07:52 receiving a 94-year sentence. Keeping her locked up has proven easier said than done,
07:58 as Mareixa successfully escaped twice before being apprehended.
08:02 Luz Irene Fajardo Campos
08:05 Born in the Mexican city of Cozalá, Fajardo Campos initially had aspirations to be a lawyer.
08:11 Her career went in a slightly different direction.
08:14 With drug trafficking being rampant in her hometown,
08:16 Fajardo Campos was no stranger to this world. Yet she rose higher than anyone could have anticipated,
08:22 leading a narcotics organization alongside her grown children
08:26 and forming connections with the Sinaloa cartel.
08:28 Living up to her title of "la comadre," Fajardo Campos oversaw aircraft that
08:33 transported substances between borders. Her reign ended in 2017 after she was
08:38 arrested at a Bogota airport, with her two sons being murdered around the same time.
08:43 In addition to paying $18 million, Fajardo Campos was sentenced to 22 years in prison,
08:49 with another five years of supervised release.
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09:07 Jocelyn Alejandra Niño
09:11 This assassin rose to notoriety in January 2015,
09:15 when an image of her sporting a large firearm was shared online.
09:18 The post connected her to the Gulf Cartel, who reportedly gave her the nickname "La Flaca,"
09:23 or "The Skinny One." The name is also connected to "Our Lady of Holy Death."
09:28 Both descriptions are accurate, with Niño proving deadlier than she looked.
09:32 As the image went viral, users analyzed the backdrop, which didn't exactly paint the
09:37 picture of luxury that people associate with high-ranking cartel members.
09:41 Whether or not this is where Niño lived, her moment in the spotlight didn't last long.
09:46 A few months after the image surfaced, what was left of Niño was found in an ice cooler
09:50 at a Matamoros parking lot. Can you think of any other female narcos? Let us know in the comments.
09:59 Thanks for watching!