TEAMWORK

North Korean Ship Smuggling Weapons

from Cuba.

Yeah, but it was mostly sugar. Cuba has offered an interesting explanation for the weapons load found by Panamanian authorities on a North Korean ship sailing from Cuba and bound for home. Officials detained the vessel, carrying 10,000 tons of sugar, on suspicion that it might be smuggling drugs; instead, they found arms that included nine disassembled missiles, two MiG-21 Bis fighter jets, and two disassembled antiaircraft missile complexes. U.S. officials expressed concern, saying the intercept may be indicative of a larger arms trade alliance. While it's not immediately clear why North Korea would be ferrying the Cuban weapons, Cuba's Foreign Ministry said the "obsolete defensive weapons" hidden inside the vessel were on the way to Pyongyang "to be repaired and returned to Cuba." Well, that settles that.