Drug dealers might operate in a degree of normalcy very different from a majority of the population but they still operate on the same social and emotional needs as the rest of us. They still need love and even though George Jung was committing a highly immoral crime by smuggling drugs and being a member of the Medellin Cartel, he sought out the affection of a woman like any man would and he found it in Mirtha Jung.
In the story of George Jung and the Medellin Cartel as a whole, Mirtha Jung played a small part that has gained widespread recognition due to the movie, Blow which was released in 2001. In it, her relationship with George Jung and her role in helping him build his drug empire is explored through the acting expertise of Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz. We explore her story below. Read on.
Mirtha Jung’s Biography
In every person’s story, they are the hero and that is exactly what Mirtha Jung would see herself as despite her relationship with one of the biggest drug smugglers in human history. The story of Mirtha Jung is believed to have begun sometime in the 1950s when she was born to her parents as Mirtha Calderon.
Her exact place of birth is unknown but she is known to be of Cuban descent. The early stages of Mirtha Jung’s life are very much unknown seeing as she remained obscure in the media until her story as the wife of a famous drug dealer was told in Blow.
According to publicly available records, she was in her mid-20s when she met George Jung. How exactly one finds themselves in the midst of a massive drug operation like the Medellin Cartel cannot exactly be expressed right now, particularly in the story of Mirtha Jung but we know she met her future husband through his work in Colombia where the Medellin Cartel headquartered under the leadership of Pablo Escobar.
Regardless of the dearth of information about her background, we have been able to source a few pieces of information about her life and we list some of them in these five facts about Mirtha Jung.
She Married George Jung In 1977
As we mentioned earlier, even drug dealers need love in their lives and George Jung found his in Mirtha Jung. As two young people living life on the wild side, they got connected and found themselves in love with each other, a love fueled by drugs and illicitly acquired money. Their relationship eventually led to a marriage in 1977. Unfortunately, it did not last. As short and wild as George Jung’s drug smuggling career, so was their marriage.
She Has A Daughter – Kristina Jung
Their marriage may not have lasted a lifetime, but it left a piece of evidence that has. While they were together, George Jung and Mirtha Jung became parents to a baby girl on the 1st of August, 1978. One cannot exactly say that Kristina Jung grew up in a perfect family. For one, her father spent a majority of her formative period in prison while her mother battled addiction and the fallout of the eventual arrest and prosecution of her husband. Regardless, Mirtha Jung can be proud of her daughter as she has been able to build a good life for herself outside the story of her parents.
Mirtha Jung Was An Addict
Perhaps the very thing that brought George Jung and Mirtha Jung together – her love for cocaine. Mirtha Jung was an addict and was very much attached to the drug. Her addiction affected her relationship with her daughter starting from the womb when she was believed to have used the dangerous drug while she was pregnant with Kristina. She also continued to use it for a while after she was born.
She Spent Some Time In Prison
Certainly, less than 0.1 percent of the population can say that both their parents spent time in prison. Unfortunately, Kristina Jung is one of the few because Mirtha Jung, her mother was sentenced to 3 years in prison where she took to the rehabilitation aspect of the prison system and weaned herself off of cocaine. She was released in 1981 and hasn’t been back in prison ever since.
See Also: Who is Maria Victoria Henao (Pablo Escobar’s Wife), Is She Dead?
She Was Played By Penelope Cruz In Blow
If your story is interesting enough, Hollywood will eventually make a film about you. While many often daydream about what favorite actor or actress of theirs would they love to represent their story in the film, Mirtha Jung got to live that fantasy when famous Spanish actress, Penelope Cruz was cast alongside Johnny Depp to play Mirtha Jung.
