iPhones arrive stateside under armed guard

Kasper Jade of AppleInsider notes that sources say early arrivals of the Apple iPhone got stateside yesterday via a Hong Kong-based air courier service.

The shipping date was meant to allow enough time for the devices to clear customed.

Believed to be at multiple locations, each arriving shipment was escorted by armed personnel retained by Apple and then cleared through the Transportation Security Administration.

The armed guards then were instructed to oversee the loading of the iPhone freight onto ground vehicles, and, as Jade describes it, to "become party to its transportation outbound."

Jade also reports that beginning yesterday, Apple told its retail personnel that no cameras of any kind will be allowed in the back stockrooms of its retail outlets. That ban extends to in-stock cellphones pre-equipped with cameras.

This ban makes it sound that iPhones will, or already are, arriving at Apple Stores. Otherwise, why the ban starting today?