Here at NewsOne, we decided to take a look at some of the most notorious female gangsters of all-time. They all range from mob-wives to drug-queens.
And some of their brutal ways make some of the most notorious male gangsters look like petty thieves.
5. Stephanie St. Clair aka Queenie or Madam Queen was a numbers runner in Harlem in the 1920’s. She went to war with the notorious Jewish gangster, Dutch Schultz, in the 1930s over the Harlem gambling territory. She would publicly expose NYPD officers for corruption by placing advertisements in several leading newspapers about the bribes she gave them.
One of her protege’s, Ellsworth “Bumpy Johnson,” would become a legendary gangster in his own right, being immortalized in the movies “Hoodlum” and “American Gangster.”
4. Arlyne Brickman was an upper class Jewish girl who managed to join the Mafia. She ran a loan sharking business, but eventually turned informant on members of the Mafia when they threatened to rape her daughter. She informed on the mob for over twenty years before testifying and putting several top figuresin jail.
3. Enedina Arellano Felix is the alleged leader of the Tijuana cartel. The Tijuana Cartel is an ultra-violent organization that controls a good deal of the cocaine and marijuana coming into the U.S. from Mexico.
2. Rosetta Cutolo became the leader of one of Italy’s most powerful Mafia organizations after her brother was arrested. She beat nine murder charges and allegedly attempted to blow up a police station while on the run from authorities for ten years.
1. Griselda Blanco is a notorious Colombian gangster who is allegedly responsible for dozens of murders over the cocaine trade and her own personal vendettas. Blanco’s violence and coaine dealing lead to her being profiled in the documentary “Cocaine Cowboys.”
