Isabella, Sandra Ávila Beltrán’s Stand-In, Is the Best Part of ‘Narcos: Mexico’ (2024)

From its returning roster of drug lords to its intelligent examination of a corrupt governmental system, there’s a lot to appreciate about Narcos: Mexico Season 2. But amid all of the cocaine, murder, and nefarious drug deals there’s one clear stand out: Teresa Ruiz‘s portrayal of Isabella Bautista continues to be fascinating.

Partially, that has to do with the way Narcos: Mexico constructs the drug trafficking gender divide in the ’70s and ’80s. Isabella Bautista first appeared in Season 1 as one of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo’s childhood friends. At the end of that first season it seemed as though Isabella was poised to be cast aside like so many other characters. Though she started as Félix Gallardo’s righthand partner and one of the only people he could trust, her betrayal of him would have signaled the end for many other characters. But not Isabella Bautista.

Isabella returns to Narcos: Mexico sharper and hungrier than ever before. Knowing full well that the only reason she’s alive is luck and that Félix Gallardo can order her death at any time, she continues to play with the tiger, securing her own constant supply of coke. Most of Season 2’s first half revolves around Isabella desperately trying to find a Mexican distributer for her product. But once she partners with Enedina Arellano Félix of the Tijuana Cartel (Mayra Hermosillo), she uses her invisibility to profit.

The most interesting part of Isabella and Enedina’s partnership is how covert their operation is compared to the male drug lords around them. Rather than utilizing armies of planes or strong-holding the border, Enedina purchases a Mexico-based cleaning company that specializes in serving United States clients. Every time one of their cleaning ladies crosses into the United States to work, they do so smuggling in a block of cocaine.

Both Isabella and Enedina are acutely aware of how their gender makes them invisible in this business. Isabella is ignored by her male peers on her best days and treated as a toxic commodity on her worst. Enedina occupies a more frustrating role, spending nearly an entire season hounding her brother to to make better decisions for the Tijuana Cartel only to be pushed aside. These women know they almost don’t exist in these wars being fought by the men around them. And so they ultimately embrace that invisibility, transforming the most innocuous of people — cleaning ladies — into their own personal army of traffickers.

Seeing Isabella and Enedina plot their own drug trade is electric. Both exude the boundless confidence, arrogance, and excitement of Narcos‘ early drug lords before them, like Pablo Escobar and Félix Gallardo. But their excitement comes without the notes of desperation of the latter two’s poverty-stricken upbringings. After being ignored for so long, both of these women have finally found a way to execute their plans. And when those plots inevitably fail it’s even more addicting to watch.

Even more interesting, both Enedina and Isabella were based on real female drug lords during this time period. Enedina Arellano Félix was one of two Arellano Félix sister who was involved in the Tijuana Cartel. She largely oversaw the cartel’s money laundering operation. But it’s Isabella’s doppelgänger who has the more shocking story.

Though there wasn’t an Isabella Bautista, Sandra Ávila Beltrán was a drug lord during this time period who bears a lot of similarities to the Narcos: Mexico character. Dubbed “La Reina del Pacífico” (The Queen of the Pacific), she was related to former leader of the Guadalajara Cartel and Félix Gallardo’s brother-in-law Rafael Caro Quintero. She was considered by U.S. and Mexican authorities to be an important link between the Sinaloa Cartel and Colombia’s North Valley Cartel. But despite her many familial ties to drug trafficking and her importance in the trade, Ávila Beltrán was a master at never leaving behind evidence. It took years for authorities to pinpoint her for any crimes. When she was finally arrested and convicted she was charged with laundering billions of dollars of cocaine between Colombia and Mexico, a crime for which she only served a few years time. It’s unclear if the real Ávila Beltrán ever had a friendship with Arellano Félix.

A more complete fictionalized deep dive of her life appears in USA’s Queen of the South. It just goes to show you, even the people who seem made up in Narcos are jaw-dropping. Here’s hoping a new season of Narcos: Mexico dives further into Isabella’s complicated life.

Watch Narcos: Mexico on Netflix