Weapons l the first version of Cuba was that the ship was carrying sugar

Cuban officials were quick to request that the vessel was released promising that there were no drugs, and made ​​no mention of the weapons until two days later , when 220,000 found hidden under sacks of brown sugar, one official said the agency Panamanian Reuters." They said it was all a big misunderstanding", said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Cuba refused to comment on this testimony. There are still doubts about the cargo of sugar and what Cuba called "obsolete" Soviet-era weapons, which he said were sent to North Korea to be repaired. The discovery has put the Asian nation under increasing diplomatic pressure, because it is suspected that the cargo would be violating an arms embargo by the UN against Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The benefits to Cuba for smuggling weapons to North Korea does not appear to outweigh the potential risks, according to experts. "It is disconcerting. 's hard to believe that Cuba would risk so much for so little, "said Frank Mora, senior official at the Pentagon in Latin America during the first term of President Barack Obama. Panamanian officials say the shipment was probably part of an exchange of weapons for sugar. While Cuba needs to modernize its arsenal, experts say that the operation failedsmuggling was so clumsy and ill-conceived that seemed out of place for the Cuban armed forces, usually very disciplined. However, you may not have been the first attempt of this kind. Security experts say thatfive North Korean vessels have transited the Panama Canal in the last three years.One ship, the O A Chong Nyon Ho, passed through the channel and docked in Havana in May 2012. "This shows that both Cuba and North Korea are very isolated and are looking for some mutual comfort . they have few alternatives and do not have much cash, "said Bruce Bagley, an expert on Latin America at the University of Miami and former advisor Panama's intelligence service.