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15 Most Famous Female Gangsters of All Time

*Originally published by Brian in February 2023 and updated by Felix in March 2024

Throughout the course of history, women have played integral roles in organized crime, defying traditional gender norms and societal expectations to assert their power and influence. Despite the persistent marginalization of women in many spheres of life, they have demonstrated remarkable resilience and resourcefulness, using their unique talents and abilities to establish and sustain criminal enterprises.

In particular, women have proven to be adept communicators and networkers, forging valuable connections and building alliances that have been instrumental in the success of organized crime. Moreover, many female gangsters have used their perceived vulnerabilities and stereotypes to their advantage, using their perceived weakness to lull victims and authorities alike into a false sense of security.

Whether in ancient societies or contemporary criminal syndicates, women have made significant contributions to organized crime and have helped to shape its evolution over time. Their ongoing participation and influence in criminal enterprises attest to their enduring strength and ingenuity, as well as their ability to challenge established gender roles and societal expectations. As a result, the legacy of female gangsters will undoubtedly continue to be felt for generations to come. In the article are the ten most famous female gangsters of all time.

1. Ma Barker

Kate Barker, also known as Ma Barker, was a prominent and influential figure during the notorious “public enemy era” of the 1930s. Her commanding presence and keen organizational skills enabled her to manage and direct her sons’ criminal pursuits effectively. J. Edgar Hoover, the legendary director of the FBI, once characterized her as “the most dangerous, resourceful, and vicious criminal mind of the last decade.”

Unfortunately, popular culture has perpetuated the notion of Barker as a monstrous mother. However, her acquaintances maintain that she had no role in her sons’ illegal activities and that Hoover fabricated these allegations to justify her violent death in a shootout in 1935. Recent reports from 2022 suggest that the media created a distorted narrative of Barker’s involvement in her sons’ crimes in a bid to enhance their sales figures.

2. Bonnie Elizabeth Parker

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker was a notorious outlaw in the early 1930s. Alongside her partner, Clyde Barrow, she became one of the most infamous criminals in American history. Bonnie and Clyde were a media sensation known for their daring bank robberies and prison escapes.

Bonnie was born into poverty and struggled to make ends meet, working as a waitress and a seamstress before turning to a life of crime. Her association with Clyde began when he stole her mother’s car, and the two quickly fell in love. They embarked on a crime spree that took them across multiple states, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

Despite her criminal activities, Bonnie was celebrated in the media as a glamorous and daring figure. She was often portrayed as a tragic heroine, caught up in a life of crime by her love for Clyde. However, her true personality and motivations remain shrouded in mystery.

In the end, Bonnie and Clyde’s crimes caught up with them. They were killed in a hail of bullets by law enforcement officers in 1934, putting an end to their reign of terror. Today, Bonnie Elizabeth Parker remains an enduring symbol of the criminal underworld and a reminder of the dangers of a life of crime.

3. Sara Aldrete

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Sara Mar铆a Aldrete Villareal, a convicted Mexican serial killer, orchestrated a drug-smuggling and human sacrifice cult with Adolfo Constanzo, resulting in a series of ritualistic killings in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Dubbed “Los Narcosat谩nicos” by the media, the cult members called her “La Madrina” or “The Godmother,” while Constanzo was known as “El Padrino” or “The Godfather.” Among their victims was Mark Kilroy, an American student slain in Matamoros in 1989. Villareal received a sentence of 62 years for her involvement in these heinous crimes.

4. Tilly Devine

Matilda Mary Devine, commonly known as Tilly Devine, was a prominent figure in the criminal underworld of Sydney, Australia during the interwar period. As an organized crime boss, she engaged in a multitude of illicit activities, including the sale of sly grog, the formation of razor gangs, and the facilitation of prostitution.

Her notoriety earned her a place in the folklore of Sydney, where she was widely recognized as a symbol of criminality and vice. Despite her infamy, she remains a complex figure whose legacy continues to fascinate historians and enthusiasts of crime lore.

5. Kate Leigh

Kathleen Mary Josephine Leigh also called Kathleen Barry or Kathleen Ryan was an Australian criminal mastermind who gained notoriety as a brothel owner, bootlegger, and cocaine smuggler. Her Surry Hills residence served as a hub for illegal gambling and betting syndicates. Leigh, known as the “Queen of Surry Hills,” was also involved in the black market trade of stolen goods.

Leigh was a prominent figure in the infamous razor gang wars that plagued Sydney. She had an ongoing feud with Tilly Devine, another notorious vice-lady operating in Woolloomooloo. Despite her criminal activities, Leigh was lauded for her philanthropic work, providing aid to the unemployed during a harsh economic climate. Her unwavering patriotism during wartime also earned her respect from the community.

6. Bessie Starkman

Bessie Starkman, also known as Besha Starkman, was a prominent organized crime figure during the early 20th century in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She and her common-law partner, Rocco Perri, established a successful bootlegging enterprise after the prohibition of alcohol sales and distribution in Canada and the United States.

Starkman was primarily responsible for managing the financial aspects of their illicit trade, demonstrating her shrewd business acumen in a dangerous and lucrative industry. Her role in the enterprise ensured that their criminal enterprise remained profitable, despite numerous challenges from rival gangs and law enforcement agencies.

7. Lola la Chata

Mar铆a Dolores Est茅vez Zuleta, widely known as Lola la Chata, was a pioneering female drug lord who was prominent in the Mexican drug trade from the 1930s to the 1950s. With a shrewd business acumen and bold determination, she trafficked in a wide range of illicit substances, including marijuana, morphine, and heroin, establishing herself as a major player in the international narcotics market. Her notoriety was amplified by the sensationalist coverage she received in the tabloid press, which often portrayed her as a glamorous and dangerous figure.

Despite facing considerable obstacles, Est茅vez managed to expand her criminal empire from a local operation to a global enterprise at a time when the drug trade was becoming increasingly sophisticated. She even managed to sell her wares both outside and inside prison walls for almost three decades, a testament to her influence and cunning.

Her activities were so impactful that they created a significant strain in relations between the Mexican and United States governments, resulting in a presidential decree aimed at curtailing her operations. Nevertheless, she managed to evade a life sentence and continued to operate, cementing her legacy as a trailblazer in the world of drug trafficking.

8. Renae Lawrence

Renae Lawrence, a member of the Bali Nine syndicate, was convicted of drug trafficking in Indonesia. During her third visit to Bali in April 2005, Lawrence was apprehended at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar with 2.689 kg of heroin concealed on her person. In her criminal trial, Lawrence cooperated with authorities and exposed the masterminds behind the operation, which led to her receiving a life imprisonment sentence on 13 February 2006. Her subsequent appeal to the Indonesian Supreme Court to reduce her sentence to 20 years was successful on 26 April 2006.

Lawrence was later accused of plotting to kill prison guards, which led to her transfer from Kerobokan Prison to a facility in Negara, Bali, in late 2013. At her own request in March 2014, she was transferred to a prison in Bangli to be closer to her family and visitors. In 2009, Lawrence was granted a five-month remission of sentence on Indonesia’s Independence Day, and in 2018, her sentence was commuted, leading to her release and deportation on 21 November 2018.

9. Santokben Jadeja

Santokben Sarmanbhai Jadeja, an Indian gangster and politician hailing from Gujarat, was often referred to as Godmother due to her prominence in the underworld. Her sphere of influence was centred in and around Porbandar, where she was a significant figure in criminal operations.

Despite her present-day insignificance, she was formerly a pivotal player in the criminal underworld. Santokben was implicated in 14 murder cases and her gang members faced as many as 500 cases. She held the post of Member of the Legislative Assembly from Kutiyana for a period of five years, from 1990 to 1995.

10. Dolly Cifuentes Villa

Dolly de Jesus Cifuentes Villa, a notorious drug kingpin hailing from Medell铆n, Colombia, has been closely affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s largest drug trafficking organizations. In August 2012, she was apprehended and later extradited to the United States, where she faced charges of cocaine importation and manufacturing conspiracy.

Villa was subsequently sentenced to a five-year imprisonment term in January 2014. She served two years of her sentence in Colombia and the remaining three in the United States, after which she was released in 2015.

11. Griselda Blanco

Griselda Blanco, or “The Godmother” and “The Black Widow,” was one of the most powerful narco-traffickers of the violent Medell铆n Cartel. Based in Miami in the 1970s and 80s, she pioneered the cocaine trade’s shift from the Caribbean to the United States. Blanco was implicated in hundreds of murders as she ruthlessly eliminated rivals and solidified her distribution network.

In 1985, she was arrested and convicted of three murders and numerous drug charges, serving nearly two decades in prison. Blanco’s brutality and penchant for violence made her one of the most feared women in the drug world. Even behind bars, she continued giving orders to her illegal empire until she was deported to Colombia in 2004 after release.

12. Stephanie St. Clair

, , via Wikimedia Commons

Meet Stephanie St. Clair, dubbed “Queen of the Rackets,” a notorious female gangster who operated in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s and 1930s. She ran a numbers racket, an illegal lottery game, and was involved in prostitution, bootlegging, and extortion.

She was a powerful figure in the underworld, controlling a vast criminal empire and employing hundreds of people. St. Clair was known for her lavish lifestyle and flamboyant fashion sense, often wearing fur coats and diamond jewelry, symbols of her wealth and power in the male-dominated criminal world.

13. Evelyn Dick

, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Some names are scary and Evelyn Dick, known as the “Canadian Mobster,” was one of them. She was a notorious crime boss who controlled drug trafficking and illegal gambling operations in Toronto during the 1960s and 70s. While working at a bookie joint, she cultivated connections with the Mafia and soon took over her criminal empire.

Dick ruled with an iron fist, ordering murders and bombings to eliminate rivals. Her reach extended across Ontario, where she oversaw drug smuggling, loansharking, and money laundering rackets. In 1972, she was convicted on charges related to conspiracy to import hashish and served five years in prison, and later died in 2012.

14. Claudia Ochoa Felix

Here is what people think 鈥渨hatever a man can do, a woman can do better means.鈥� Claudia Ochoa Felix was a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficking organizations. Known as the “Empress of Antrax,” she helped oversee the cartel’s operations in the border region of Sonora and Chihuahua, leading men.

Ochoa Felix was responsible for coordinating the smuggling of multi-ton cocaine shipments into the United States. She employed brutal tactics, ordering kidnappings and killings of rivals. In 2019, she was arrested on charges of criminal association and drug trafficking, despite having amassed a lot of wealth.

15. Dorothy Ellingson

Dorothy Ellingson, nicknamed the “Mother Superior of the Mickey Mouse Mafia,” was a renowned criminal matriarch who controlled organized crime in Southern California in the 1970s and 80s. Ellingson graduated to drug trafficking and extortion rackets, from smuggling stolen goods. Her widespread criminal network became known as the Mickey Mouse Mafia due to her small stature.

Ellingson ruled through fear and intimidation, ordering murders of those who crossed her. In 1983, she was convicted on charges including extortion, tax evasion, and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Prosecutors called her one of the most powerful female mobsters in U.S. history.

I will wrap up my article on the most famous female gangsters by saying they were brave, daring women who defied societal norms. Though their criminal activities cannot be condoned, their bold actions and fearless spirits have solidified their places in history as notorious, unforgettable figures.