Investigators in Panama have seized two Soviet MiG-21 fighter jets in the cargo hold of a North Korean ship traveling from Cuba through the Panama Canal.

The ship was also carrying two missile guidance systems. All the illicit military equipment was hidden beneath thousands of sacks of sugar that Cuba claimed it was sending to North Korea as humanitarian aid. The Asian military dictatorship has long suffered from food shortages, but it is under a United Nations embargo that prevents other countries from supplying technology that could be used to further its nuclear and missile programs.

North Korea has threatened its neighbors in East Asia as well as the United States with apocalyptic rhetoric for decades, but it has recently tested nuclear weapons despite worldwide condemnation.

Upon discovery of the supersonic fighter jets, Cuba claimed it was sending obsolete technology to North Korea for repair, but that was before authorities identified the parts as MiGs.

"One can't take undeclared weapons through the Panama Canal below other cargo," said Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli. Panama has requested an investigation by the UN Security Council, which should begin in early August once the two planes have been unloaded from the ship.

The 35 North Korean members of the crew have been arrested for smuggling by Panamanian authorities. North Korea has already requested their release, as well as the release of the ship and its cargo, but Panama has thus far ignored the entreaties.

While North Korea's relatively new and untested leader Kim Jong-un often speaks in grandiose terms about his nation's ongoing battle with the West, it is unlikely North Korea can actually do anything to retrieve its cargo and personnel, aside from additional bluster.

North Korea is already under heavy sanctions from the international community, so there is little additional punishment that could be levied, but Cuba could face sanctions for its part in the illegal trade.