Griselda Blanco killed in Colombia

An elderly woman who was known as Colombia's "Queen of Cocaine" was gunned down in the northwestern city of Medellin, police said Tuesday.

They say Griselda Blanco, 69, was killed by two bullets at close range Monday afternoon.  

Blanco's life came to a violent end, similar to the way authorities say she lived her life in the 1970s and 80s.  She gained notoriety for her alleged connection to drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and the ruthless way she allegedly murdered competitors.

In 1975, Blanco was charged and convicted in Miami with conspiring to manufacture, smuggle and distribute cocaine in the U-S.  She was also charged in 1994 with ordering three murders, including a three-year-old boy, in the Miami area.  Police suspect she was actually involved in at least 40 homicides in the U.S.

After serving her sentence, Blanco was deported to her native Colombia in 2004.

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