Blanco’s 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 attorney’s 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 doesn’t mean the whole thing shuts down. It’s 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 don’t 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 doesn’t 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 couple’s 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 there’s 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, “There’s a bad guy in all of us.[That’s 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, Blanco’s 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 screen…I 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 I’m relieved that she liked the Cocaine Cowboys movies,” he half-jokingly confesses. “I’d hate to think what would happen if she didn’t.”