Panama detained a North Korean-flagged ship headed to the Panama Canal from Cuba and said it was carrying suspected missile equipment hidden under tons of brown sugar, after a standoff in which the ship’s captain tried to commit suicide.
President Ricardo Martinelli said the undeclared weapons were detected when Panamanian authorities stopped the ship, suspecting it was carrying drugs.
«We found containers which presumably contain sophisticated missile equipment. That is not allowed. The Panama canal is a canal of peace, not war,» he told Panamanian radio.
The US State Department praised Panama’s decision to detain and search the ship and said it was ready to help if asked.
It was unclear what the weapons were, but a photo posted on Martinelli’s official Twitter page showed a long, green missile-shaped object with a tapering, conical end inside the ship that security experts said may have been radar equipment or missiles.
Mulino said Panamanian authorities have been searching the ship since Wednesday and had so far only discovered two containers of military equipment.
The containers were hidden beneath more than 250,000 100-kilogram (220-pound) bags of sugar, he said.
After Panama began its search, Mulino said the captain became violent, but declined to give more details.
Martinelli went further, saying the captain of the vessel tried to commit suicide after the ship was stopped near the port of Manzanillo on the Atlantic side of the canal.
It was not clear how the captain, who is now receiving medical attention, had tried to kill himself.
The president said the crew resisted efforts by Panamanian authorities to redirect the ship, named Chong Chon Gang, to Manzanillo and that 35 crew members were detained.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald