Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s Craig Jones revealed a harrowing experience of getting his drink spiked with “Devil’s Breath” during his extended stay in Colombia.
Jones, who is Jack Della Maddalena and Alexander Volkanovski’s BJJ coach, detailed the incident that occurred while he was enjoying what was supposed to be a casual night out with his personal assistant, Seth, in Medellin. After consuming just a few drinks, Jones began feeling unusually impaired.
“I probably only had three, four drinks,” Jones explained duringa podcast appearance. “The last memory I have, we had two shots there and Seth was trying not to drink because of the stem cells. I drank my shot and his shot.”
What happened next was alarming. Seth later found Jones in a bathroom, overheated and partially undressed. “Seth walks into the bathroom and finds me basically pants down. I’ve pulled my shirt off. I’ve gone to the bathroom. I’m overheating,” Jones recounted.
Jones believes he was dosed with scopolamine, commonly known as “Devil’s Breath” – a notorious occurence in Colombia for rendering targets compliant while maintaining certain cognitive functions.
“It has this you’re sort of like the walking dead. I couldn’t walk cuz I took two hits but you remember all your banking detail. You remember the numbers very well,” Jones explained. “It messes with your head but it’s great to rob people because you remember the detail.”
Security camera footage later confirmed his suspicions, showing Seth dragging an incapacitated Jones back to their Airbnb, where Jones momentarily regained enough function to enter the door code before passing out again.
The incident occurred during an extended stay in Colombia following the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) event. Jones had traveled to Colombia directly after CJI 1 and ended up spending five to six weeks in Medellin.
Despite the frightening experience, Jones reported feeling relatively normal the next day: “I woke up naked and saw a trash can on the like saw a trash can there and I was just like, ‘F**k, what happened last night?’ But I felt pretty good to be honest.”
Jones also recounted his extended stay in Colombia following the (CJI) event. “I put up a post. I think I actually made quite an insensitive post. I was using the c**aine sunglasses to pour some powder, a prop onto Pablo’s grave, like one for the fallen homies, you know?” Jones explained.
This seemingly harmless social media post led to an unexpected connection. “A guy messaged me on Instagram and he’s like, ‘Do you want to meet the sister?’ And I was like, ‘You’re full of s**t for sure,'” Jones recalled. After receiving photographic evidence that convinced him of the authenticity of the offer, Jones decided to meet with Escobar’s sister.
The encounter initially went well. “She took us on a bit of a tour of Pablo’s old house and then we got hammered together on red wine,” Jones said. However, the cordial atmosphere changed dramatically when Jones “tricked her into putting the sunglasses on for a photo” and then explained what the sunglasses were used for.
“Obviously, she’s not into the heritage of the Escobar name,” Jones clarified when asked about her reaction. He mentioned that despite his probing questions about Pablo Escobar, much of the “notorious, nefarious activities were shielded from the family life.”
During the tour, Escobar’s sister and the former driver attempted to dispel certain myths about the operations, particularly regarding cash storage. “They were trying to clarify that the large stacks of cash where people were talking about what was holding the cash together was disintegrating and stuff was largely a myth, that most of the c*caine transactions were for land or for houses,” Jones explained.
This is just one of many adventures Jones detailed from his extensive travels through South America, which also included visits to Brazil, Argentina, and more.
Jones has since returned to the United States and is preparing for CJI 2, scheduled for August 30-31 in Las Vegas, where he’ll continue his mission to elevate the sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu through innovative competition formats.
