Eighteen human heads were discovered on Monday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport by U.S. Customs Authorities. Investigators have yet to determine whether the intercepted shipment, reportedly from Italy, contained legitimate medical specimens.
"There's no issue with the transportation of body parts for medical purposes. There's nothing against the law that says you cannot ship them, provided you have the right documentation," said Brian Bell, a Chicago-based spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security in an interview with Fox's
local affiliate FOX 32.
"Everybody here is ‘Oh my gosh, you got a box of heads' and everybody thinks that it's unheard of . . . It is a potentially legitimate medical shipment. We've seen it at various ports in the nation . . . We need to make sure that they are truly used for medical research purposes," added Bell.
Bell declined to say where the package was headed, saying only that such shipments are not unprecedented.
According to airport authorities, the human heads, which were still covered in skin, were wrapped in plastic and transferred to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office for further inspection. Upon initial examination, investigators do not think foul play played a role in the collection of the heads.
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