18 human heads shipped from Rome held up at Chicago airport

18 human heads meant to be used for anatomical research was held by the Authorities at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
Officials initially said an issue with paperwork caused the hold-up since the heads arrived from Rome before Christmas.

But the newspaper reported Tuesday that authorities stopped the shipment from going through because it was headed to a facility that is under investigation.
According to an anonymous source quoted by the Sun-Times, the investigation itself is “absolutely not” connected to the shipment of the heads.

A spokeswoman for the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, Mary Paleologos, told The Associated Press the heads were now being held in containers at the Cook County morgue.
The heads, shipped from a legitimate facility in Italy, were properly embalmed, wrapped and tagged as human specimens, Paleologos told the AP. There is no suggestion of foul play, she added.
 
There’s no issue with the transportation of body parts for medical purposes,” Brian Bell, a spokesman with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told newspapers, there's nothing against the law that says you cannot ship them, provided you have the right documentation.