Also known as the \u201cCocaine Godmother\u201d and \u201c<\/span>Black Widow\u201d, the series explores her route to the top of the Miami drug trade in the 1970s and \u201980s after arriving from Medell\u00edn, Colombia \u2013 including how she evaded law enforcement for some time as they refused to <\/span>believe that a woman was behind such an extensive and violent criminal enterprise.<\/p>\n But in the drama, one individual cottons on to Blanco sooner than any other and is a key player in the hunt to bring her down: June Hawkins.<\/p>\n Yes<\/strong>. Hawkins, played by Juliana Aid\u00e9n Martinez, is an intelligence analyst-cum-translator who became part of anti-drug <\/span>task force CENTAC \u2013 Central Tactical Unit.<\/span><\/p>\n Hawkins was a real-life <\/span>Miami police sergeant.<\/p>\n Hawkins, who was born in Miami to a Cuban mother, studied criminal justice at Florida State University before becoming a police officer in 1975 and serving for 30 years. She retired in 2004, although she was on the books for a little longer.<\/span><\/p>\n Hawkins is <\/span>now retired and lives in Tennessee.<\/p>\n During an appearance on the Law Enforcement Talk podcast<\/a> in 2017, Hawkins spoke about the sexism she faced from some of her male colleagues during her time in the force.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the beginning I was probably the only female on most of the platoons and\u2026 squads that I was on for a good while, probably the first five years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey teased me\u2026 and the guys in the beginning especially, you could tell they were testing you, they needled you a little. Maybe they\u2019d use really crude language to see if you got offended. But to me, it just wasn\u2019t a big deal. Sure, I had some guys that a little bit sexually harassed me\u2026 but I just kept on trucking.<\/p>\n \u201cI was too busy making a living, doing my job, trying to be Eric\u2019s mum (her only child also became a police officer and serves in Boynton Beach, Florida). <\/span>I didn\u2019t have time to play around or be the flirtatious little chickadee that maybe some of them expected from females.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n But eventually, there was a shift in their attitude towards Hawkins.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a two-sided coin because on the one hand, there was a lot of suspicion and apprehension on the part of my male colleagues about what are these women doing in here now,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n \u201cBut on the other hand\u2026 once they realised that I was really sincere, that I was a single mother, that I<\/span> had to earn a living to support my son and this wasn\u2019t just a lark for me, then they became my big brothers.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I was serious. I\u2019d say I was pretty dedicated and I think I was a pretty good cop. And I was very determined. I would have walked over hot coals to keep my job and do a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n Hawkins went on to discuss what she\u2019s most proud of from her time in the police.<\/p>\n \u201cWorking in homicide during \u201979, \u201980, \u201981 is probably not only the thing I\u2019m most proud of, but the thing I most enjoyed because I really did impact\u2026 it was exciting, it was purposeful, I had a fire in the belly and lightning in my veins, and I was going to get those bad guys.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She added: \u201cBecause I speak Spanish and in those days, there weren\u2019t that many Spanish speakers on the department and they used me as kin<\/span>d of like an intelligence analyst to filter through all the names of all the people and make out who they were. <\/span>And then I\u2019d talk to informants and I\u2019d write all these memos. <\/span>I prepared a big report that wound up going to Washington with about 40 cases connected to it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But despite being labelled a \u201ctrailblazer\u201d and a \u201cpioneer\u201d, Hawkins didn\u2019t regard herself as such at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cI do believe that when you\u2019re in something, when you\u2019re so right up there next to it, that until you step away from it and time and years pass, that is when you see the perspective that perhaps others did,\u201d she said. \u201cThen you can appreciate what you did.\u201d<\/p>\nIs June Hawkins based on a real person?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What happened to June Hawkins?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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![\"June](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/01\/June-Hawkins-Griselda-98efba1.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"Griselda\\"\/")
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