Miraflores lock, Panama Canal/via Flickr Creative Commons

The Washington Post reported on Friday that explosive-sniffing dogs found ammunition for "grenade launchers and other unidentified types of munitions."

The North Korean ship, the Chong Chon Gang, was en route from Cuba to North Korea when it was stopped and seized in the Panama Canal on July 15.  Panamanian officials said that they had intelligence that the ship may have been carrying illicit materials, including drugs and undeclared weapons, a violation of the United Nations arms embargo against the North Korean government. The crew of the Chong Chon Gang was also detained and Panama has filed charges against the crew for "transporting undeclared military equipment," according to Fox News.

The discovery of live ammunition onboard the Cong Con Gang follows Tuesday's discovery of 12 jet engines for MiG-21 fighter jets and five military vehicles that, according to Reuters, resembled missle control centers. The illegal components were hidden under 10,000 tons of Cuban sugar.  Narcotics have not yet been found.

Cuban officials have said that the fighter jet parts and missiles were being sent to North Korea for repairs and would be returned to the island nation. According to the Huffington Post, crews at the canal had only unloaded two of the five cargo holds on the ship.

The discovery of illicit military equipment has forced an investigation by the U.N. Security Council committee that monitors and enforces the sanctions against North Korea, and the UNSC is sending a team of investigators to determine if the Cuban-North Korean deal violates UN sanctions.  The investigators are scheduled to arrive in Panama on August 13.

The investigators will report their findings to the UNSC and make recommendations.  They might also request additional information from Panamanian and Cuban authorities, according to committee member and Luxembourg's Ambassador to the UN Sylvie Lucas.

Relations between Cuba and North Korea began in the 1960s after Fidel Castro declared that his country would be a Marxist-Leninist state and would form an alliance with the Soviet Union.  North Korea, a Soviet client at the time, had a mutual defense agreement with Cuba and other Soviet allies.  The two countries are not considered by scholars to be substantially close.

Recently, Cuba has been trying to diversify its foreign relationships in an attempt to minimize the U.S. embargo and continued uncertainty and instability with Venezuela, a major trading and political partner. Chinese officials visited Havana in June and the two countries have signed various agreements in the past few months.

Reach Executive Producer Colin Hale here.  Follow him on Twitter.