Drug users, and others who are down on their luck financially, will often turn to dealing drugs to make a quick buck. The markup on illegal drugs is enormous, reflecting the risk much more than the work involved. However, the neighborhood dealer isn’t getting rich. The people who are getting rich are those who build a network and control distribution from the source. To reach that level, one has to be willing to do more than just sell drugs, because operations of such size involve bribery, intimidation, corruption, and murder. These drug kingpins must be willing to cross any line to get to such heights. Take, for example, Griselda Blanco, estimated to have been worth $2 billion at one time.
Next up is Griselda Blanco (a.k.a. the Black Widow, a.k.a. the Cocaine Godmother) with an estimated net worth of $2 billion. Griselda was a member of the notorious Medellin Cartel, and was involved with the cartel during their most powerful years. During the 1970’s and the 1980’s. Griselda primarily worked in New York and Miami, helping with the cocaine shipments that ended up in the United States. It is estimated that her operations in the United States at their height brought in some $80 million dollars in revenue each month. However Griselda became increasingly violent and paranoid over the years, like many drug lords (drug lady?), and was eventually arrested, yet the case fell apart. She then fled to Columbia where she laid low, before she was eventually killed in a drive-by assassination in Medellin, Columbia in 2012.
And she’s only ranked at number nine! See the rest of the ten richest drug lords ever at Worthly.