Cocaine Cowboys II: Down With The Queen
Charles Cosbys inviting nature bears the classic sign of a salesman. Hes a skilled storyteller who speaks with a hint of hyperbole, which can occasionally trigger a youre being hustled uneasiness. But Cosbys salesman-like demeanor is understandable. Its easy to seem outlandish when recounting the graphic tales of Griselda Blanco.
In the recently released documentary Cocaine Cowboys II: Hustlin With the Godmother [click to read], Cosby shares his experience as an associate of famed cocaine distributor Griselda Blanco, a former Colombian drug lord known more for her insatiable bloodlust than her potent product. Though the 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys explored several facets of the rampant drug trade in Miami during the 1980s, it was Blancos reported viciousness that sparked word-of-mouth for the heavily-bootlegged film.
When we started meeting celebrities like Janet Jackson or Pharrell, the only thing people could ever talk about was The Godmother, says the films director/producer Billy Corben. We knew right away that there was more of this story to tell.
Blancos progression from child prostitute to cocaine wholesalers is an intriguing story. She entered the drug trade in Colombia, emigrated to the United States, and then developed a reputation as a woman more interesting in acquiring conflict than cash.
Corben discovered the best way to tell that story in Charles Cosby, Blancos former lover and business representative. A dark-skinned black male fond of tightly cropped hair and impeccably-pressed casual attire, Cosby grew up in a working class section of Oakland, California, embracing the role of neighborhood menace at an early age. His childhood mischief later turned into crack cooking and peddling as a teen. In his early twenties, he graduated to a completely different level of the drug trade once he met The Godmother, which gave him a wealth of inside information that few sources can match.
I was basically appointed as the head of her organization, Cosby says during a conference call with Corben. I became the Head Honcho, if you will. She had operations in Miami, New York, and Los Angeles, and I became heavily involved in all them. A lot of the guys who had been with her longer resented that, but I didnt care because they didnt matter. I was the one with Griselda.
Corben first learned of Cosby during production of Cocaine Cowboys. As he and other members of the Rakontur production team sifted through a mountain of case files at the Miami-Dade Police Department, they discovered a series of photos taken of Blanco and a then unknown young black male. The hair and clothing styles were dead giveaways that the photos were taken in the '90s, which meant the story behind these images fell outside of their wild '80s scope.
Months later, as Cosby conducted research for his memoirs, also titled Hustling With the Godmother, he stumbled across the Cocaine Cowboys DVD and saw his face flash on-screen. He soon contacted the films creators, who invited him to appear in the DVD bonus features. But Corben and company quickly recognized that the Oakland native had a story too compelling for a 15-minute featurette. Hustling With the Godmother had stumbled into its first stage of production.
Theres really no better way to tell this story because Cosby gets involved with Griselda right at the moment [Cocaine Cowboys] ends, Corben explains.
Cosbys road to crime doc stardom began when he developed an infatuation with Blanco in 1991. After seeing a news report on her arrest, he became enamored by the seemingly demure woman accused of devilish acts.
The media painted her as this homicidal maniac a cocaine queen, Cosby says of his first impression. I wrote her a letter of admiration just stating how much I respected her power. She answered back and we became close that way.
One letter turned into a long written correspondence, which eventually led to daily phone calls. Cosby even kept a video diary of his feelings to send to Blanco when he couldnt be with her. The exchange lasted for nearly 10 months until Cosbys probation ended, allowing him to visit Blanco in prison. Despite their 25-year age difference, the drug dealer and the cocaine czar began a sexual relationship almost immediately.
[Our age difference] didnt affect my decision to pursue a relationship with her at all, Cosby says. Upon Corbens suggestion that Blancos power may have been alluring, he adds, You always see in the movies these mob figures running things, but this was a woman who had the other inmates and even the guards afraid of her. To see a female inmate wield as much power as Griselda Blanco did, it was intoxicating Plus, Im [adventurous], so this was my Fuji.
Like Blancos previous relationships with men, business and pleasure were inseparably intertwined in her dealings with Cosby. She absorbed her lover, a relatively small-time dealer, into one of the largest drug operations in the world. But The Godmother made it clear to him that she remained the gatekeeper to his newly expanded world.
Although I was a millionaire, I was a puppet under her control, Cosby says. She wields that kind of control over everyone in her life. Its established that shes the final word on anything. Its the Griselda Blanco show and what she says goes.
Blancos control still affects many to this day. Years after the U.S. government jailed her and then deported her to Colombia, she is so feared that a number of people contacted to appear in the Cowboys franchise have steadfastly refused.
There were people at the state attorneys office who were intimately involved in the case who were frightened even today about getting involved with Griselda or [hitman] Rivi Ayala, Corben reveals. When you have an organization like Griselda had, just because the head guy is out of the picture doesnt mean the whole thing shuts down. Its the same way the head of a corporation can go to jail and the company still operates. Well, Griselda ran her cocaine business like a $50 million dollar corporation from her prison cell with Charles help.
Hustling With the Godmother centers on this relationship between Cosby and Blanco. The jet-setting and shootout-heavy pursuit of money follows the original Cocaine Cowboys lead, but that is largely where the similarities cease. While its predecessor riveted audiences with its hell-in-paradise storyline covering the vast effects of the Miami drug trade, Cocaine Cowboys II is a focused account of the Blanco-Cosby alliance.
The first movie is a big, broad epic tale, Corben explains. We set out to tell the story of Miami and we used microstories to create a macrostory CC II is more along the lines of American Gangster [click to read] where you have the story of two compelling figures like Denzel and Russell Crowe. In this case you have Charles Cosby and Griselda Blanco. The first Cocaine Cowboys was like a TV series with lots of characters and adventures. CC II is a motion picture.
However, this motion picture will not be seen in theaters. Hustlin has been released as a straight-to-DVD film in an effort to combat the rampant bootlegging and limited availability that bogged the theatre take of Cocaine Cowboys.
We wasted all that fucking money with the theatrical release of the first movie, Corben laments. It only ever came out on 12 screens in the country and we could never meet the demand that way. What are people supposed to do drive to the next state to see a movie? No. The good thing about it was that people dont bootleg crap; they bootleg what they want to see. People want to see CCII, so we have to get it to them as quickly as possible.
Perhaps the most glaring contrast between the two Cowboys volumes is the introduction of romance. Photographs, love letters, and video and audio tapes Cosby has kept show a softer side of the Black Widow. One doesnt expect such tenderness from a woman whose legend is supposed to be exceeded only by her callousness. After all, this is a woman angered that one of her hitmen murdered Alfredo Lorenzo and his wife but chose not to kill the couples young children.
Yet, this is the woman that Cosby and much of the world love and embrace. Though the general public often vilifies criminals, they are just as likely to express fascination or even admiration for these same individuals. Blanco and the Cocaine Cowboys franchise have joined the ranks of other villains-turned-heroes.
This goes back to the legend of Robin Hood and the wild, wild west, Corben says. You always have this fascination with bandits and bad guys, and theres always been this tendency to turn these people into folk heroes. You look at any decade or time period in history and you can find legendary stories about these characters.
Cosby adds, Theres a bad guy in all of us.[Thats why] you have your Godfathers and your Scarfaces and New Jack City or Menace to Society. Deep down, everybody wants to root for the criminal to walk off into the sunset with his riches in tact.
The Hustlin theme song even refers to Cosby as The Real Scarface, a nod that he will go down as another bad guy legend of the cocaine trade. But his legacy is unlikely to eclipse that of Blanco, who left a brutal impression on cocaine growers, distributors, dealers, and even the average citizen whose only dealings with her are watching her story on-screen.
According to Cosby, Blanco is not entirely happy with this "Murderous Madam" portrayal. Michael Corleone Sepulveda, Blancos youngest son, says that his mother is satisfied with the Cowboys films. However, she is upset that the video empire led to her grandchildren discovering that abuela once brought carnage and death to two continents.
I can understand Griselda being upset about how her grandkids see her, but there are real victims here, Corben says. I received a message on MySpace from one of the daughters of Alfredo Lorenzo. This girl watched the movie in theaters and had to see her parents bloody, dead bodies on a 30-foot screenI think less about what Griselda thinks about these movies and more of what her victims think.
Still, Corben recognizes the powerful mystique that surrounds Griselda Blanco.
Certainly Im relieved that she liked the Cocaine Cowboys movies, he half-jokingly confesses. Id hate to think what would happen if she didnt.
In the recently released documentary Cocaine Cowboys II: Hustlin With the Godmother [click to read], Cosby shares his experience as an associate of famed cocaine distributor Griselda Blanco, a former Colombian drug lord known more for her insatiable bloodlust than her potent product. Though the 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys explored several facets of the rampant drug trade in Miami during the 1980s, it was Blancos reported viciousness that sparked word-of-mouth for the heavily-bootlegged film.
When we started meeting celebrities like Janet Jackson or Pharrell, the only thing people could ever talk about was The Godmother, says the films director/producer Billy Corben. We knew right away that there was more of this story to tell.
Blancos progression from child prostitute to cocaine wholesalers is an intriguing story. She entered the drug trade in Colombia, emigrated to the United States, and then developed a reputation as a woman more interesting in acquiring conflict than cash.
Corben discovered the best way to tell that story in Charles Cosby, Blancos former lover and business representative. A dark-skinned black male fond of tightly cropped hair and impeccably-pressed casual attire, Cosby grew up in a working class section of Oakland, California, embracing the role of neighborhood menace at an early age. His childhood mischief later turned into crack cooking and peddling as a teen. In his early twenties, he graduated to a completely different level of the drug trade once he met The Godmother, which gave him a wealth of inside information that few sources can match.
I was basically appointed as the head of her organization, Cosby says during a conference call with Corben. I became the Head Honcho, if you will. She had operations in Miami, New York, and Los Angeles, and I became heavily involved in all them. A lot of the guys who had been with her longer resented that, but I didnt care because they didnt matter. I was the one with Griselda.
Corben first learned of Cosby during production of Cocaine Cowboys. As he and other members of the Rakontur production team sifted through a mountain of case files at the Miami-Dade Police Department, they discovered a series of photos taken of Blanco and a then unknown young black male. The hair and clothing styles were dead giveaways that the photos were taken in the '90s, which meant the story behind these images fell outside of their wild '80s scope.
Months later, as Cosby conducted research for his memoirs, also titled Hustling With the Godmother, he stumbled across the Cocaine Cowboys DVD and saw his face flash on-screen. He soon contacted the films creators, who invited him to appear in the DVD bonus features. But Corben and company quickly recognized that the Oakland native had a story too compelling for a 15-minute featurette. Hustling With the Godmother had stumbled into its first stage of production.
Theres really no better way to tell this story because Cosby gets involved with Griselda right at the moment [Cocaine Cowboys] ends, Corben explains.
Cosbys road to crime doc stardom began when he developed an infatuation with Blanco in 1991. After seeing a news report on her arrest, he became enamored by the seemingly demure woman accused of devilish acts.
The media painted her as this homicidal maniac a cocaine queen, Cosby says of his first impression. I wrote her a letter of admiration just stating how much I respected her power. She answered back and we became close that way.
One letter turned into a long written correspondence, which eventually led to daily phone calls. Cosby even kept a video diary of his feelings to send to Blanco when he couldnt be with her. The exchange lasted for nearly 10 months until Cosbys probation ended, allowing him to visit Blanco in prison. Despite their 25-year age difference, the drug dealer and the cocaine czar began a sexual relationship almost immediately.
[Our age difference] didnt affect my decision to pursue a relationship with her at all, Cosby says. Upon Corbens suggestion that Blancos power may have been alluring, he adds, You always see in the movies these mob figures running things, but this was a woman who had the other inmates and even the guards afraid of her. To see a female inmate wield as much power as Griselda Blanco did, it was intoxicating Plus, Im [adventurous], so this was my Fuji.
Like Blancos previous relationships with men, business and pleasure were inseparably intertwined in her dealings with Cosby. She absorbed her lover, a relatively small-time dealer, into one of the largest drug operations in the world. But The Godmother made it clear to him that she remained the gatekeeper to his newly expanded world.
Although I was a millionaire, I was a puppet under her control, Cosby says. She wields that kind of control over everyone in her life. Its established that shes the final word on anything. Its the Griselda Blanco show and what she says goes.
Blancos control still affects many to this day. Years after the U.S. government jailed her and then deported her to Colombia, she is so feared that a number of people contacted to appear in the Cowboys franchise have steadfastly refused.
There were people at the state attorneys office who were intimately involved in the case who were frightened even today about getting involved with Griselda or [hitman] Rivi Ayala, Corben reveals. When you have an organization like Griselda had, just because the head guy is out of the picture doesnt mean the whole thing shuts down. Its the same way the head of a corporation can go to jail and the company still operates. Well, Griselda ran her cocaine business like a $50 million dollar corporation from her prison cell with Charles help.
Hustling With the Godmother centers on this relationship between Cosby and Blanco. The jet-setting and shootout-heavy pursuit of money follows the original Cocaine Cowboys lead, but that is largely where the similarities cease. While its predecessor riveted audiences with its hell-in-paradise storyline covering the vast effects of the Miami drug trade, Cocaine Cowboys II is a focused account of the Blanco-Cosby alliance.
The first movie is a big, broad epic tale, Corben explains. We set out to tell the story of Miami and we used microstories to create a macrostory CC II is more along the lines of American Gangster [click to read] where you have the story of two compelling figures like Denzel and Russell Crowe. In this case you have Charles Cosby and Griselda Blanco. The first Cocaine Cowboys was like a TV series with lots of characters and adventures. CC II is a motion picture.
However, this motion picture will not be seen in theaters. Hustlin has been released as a straight-to-DVD film in an effort to combat the rampant bootlegging and limited availability that bogged the theatre take of Cocaine Cowboys.
We wasted all that fucking money with the theatrical release of the first movie, Corben laments. It only ever came out on 12 screens in the country and we could never meet the demand that way. What are people supposed to do drive to the next state to see a movie? No. The good thing about it was that people dont bootleg crap; they bootleg what they want to see. People want to see CCII, so we have to get it to them as quickly as possible.
Perhaps the most glaring contrast between the two Cowboys volumes is the introduction of romance. Photographs, love letters, and video and audio tapes Cosby has kept show a softer side of the Black Widow. One doesnt expect such tenderness from a woman whose legend is supposed to be exceeded only by her callousness. After all, this is a woman angered that one of her hitmen murdered Alfredo Lorenzo and his wife but chose not to kill the couples young children.
Yet, this is the woman that Cosby and much of the world love and embrace. Though the general public often vilifies criminals, they are just as likely to express fascination or even admiration for these same individuals. Blanco and the Cocaine Cowboys franchise have joined the ranks of other villains-turned-heroes.
This goes back to the legend of Robin Hood and the wild, wild west, Corben says. You always have this fascination with bandits and bad guys, and theres always been this tendency to turn these people into folk heroes. You look at any decade or time period in history and you can find legendary stories about these characters.
Cosby adds, Theres a bad guy in all of us.[Thats why] you have your Godfathers and your Scarfaces and New Jack City or Menace to Society. Deep down, everybody wants to root for the criminal to walk off into the sunset with his riches in tact.
The Hustlin theme song even refers to Cosby as The Real Scarface, a nod that he will go down as another bad guy legend of the cocaine trade. But his legacy is unlikely to eclipse that of Blanco, who left a brutal impression on cocaine growers, distributors, dealers, and even the average citizen whose only dealings with her are watching her story on-screen.
According to Cosby, Blanco is not entirely happy with this "Murderous Madam" portrayal. Michael Corleone Sepulveda, Blancos youngest son, says that his mother is satisfied with the Cowboys films. However, she is upset that the video empire led to her grandchildren discovering that abuela once brought carnage and death to two continents.
I can understand Griselda being upset about how her grandkids see her, but there are real victims here, Corben says. I received a message on MySpace from one of the daughters of Alfredo Lorenzo. This girl watched the movie in theaters and had to see her parents bloody, dead bodies on a 30-foot screenI think less about what Griselda thinks about these movies and more of what her victims think.
Still, Corben recognizes the powerful mystique that surrounds Griselda Blanco.
Certainly Im relieved that she liked the Cocaine Cowboys movies, he half-jokingly confesses. Id hate to think what would happen if she didnt.
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