According to a Stuff report, the suitcases were moved between different storage areas in the same SafeStore Papatoetoe facility in the second half of 2021.
A person with knowledge of the move told Stuff there were dead flies and rats in the unit – but there was no smell or clues to raise the alarm.
A SafeStore spokesperson said the company would not comment “as police have asked not to jeopardize an ongoing investigation”.
The bodies of the children, aged between five and 10, were found by those who had unknowingly bought the suitcases from the South Auckland storage area as part of an abandoned goods auction.
The police investigation into the case – which was started after the horrific find on August 11 at a Manurewa property – was called in by Interpol.
The children’s bodies were likely stored in the Papatoetoe SafeStore storage area for three to four years before they were discovered, Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Vaaelua said at the time.
Just over a month after the gruesome find, a 42-year-old woman was arrested for the deaths of the two children. She was found “hidden in an apartment” in Ulsan, a South Korean city.
“Police detained the suspect in an apartment in Ulsan on Thursday after a surveillance with tips about her whereabouts and CCTV footage,” the Seoul National Police said.
“The suspect is charged by New Zealand police with murdering two of her children, then seven and ten years old, in the Auckland area around 2018,” the statement said.
“She arrived in South Korea after the crime and has been in hiding ever since.”
While being transported to Seoul by police, the woman was questioned by journalists about the charges, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
“I didn’t,” the woman, who covered her head with a coat, said repeatedly.
After New Zealand police issued the woman’s arrest warrant, the Seoul Supreme Court issued an extradition warrant for the woman.
An extradition inquiry is expected to be conducted at the Seoul Supreme Court.
At this Supreme Court hearing, it will be decided whether the woman will be extradited to New Zealand.
“It is all thanks to the assistance of the Korean authorities and the coordination by our Interpol personnel of the New Zealand Police,” the police said in a statement today.
“Police also want to acknowledge the overwhelming support from the public since the beginning of a very challenging investigation.