Two months after the bodies of 15 people were found in a boat off Belle Garden, Tobago, they were taken to the Forensic Science Centre, St James, for storage.
The bodies were found on May 28. Tobago police discovered they were from Mauritania, in northwest Africa.
Newsday understands the bodies were taken to the centre, where they will be stored, on Thursday morning, by two funeral home vans.
Sources said they were not told how long the bodies would be kept at the centre.
They said some were "little more than skeletons."
An autopsy in July ruled the cause of death was undetermined owing to the advanced state of decomposition, but the results of a toxicology report were still pending.
One source said there could be problems with storage space if there were any additional murders and said funeral homes would have to store bodies.
The source also said a decomposing body that was brought to the centre on Thursday afternoon had to be turned away after the 15 bodies were stored.
Contacted for comment, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said he did not see a problem with the storage of the bodies at the centre, and did not anticipate any problems in terms of capacity.
"I do not foresee any challenges.
"We are communicating through (the Ministry of) Foreign Affairs with the Mauritanian government and we will act on the basis of the information we would have gotten from them."
When asked if repatriation would be possible, Hinds repeated the statement.
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