The tech giant used chartered cargo flights to ship roughly 1.5 million iPhones from India, as per source cited in the report.

The devices were flown out of the Chennai airport in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where Apple has been building up production through its manufacturing partners like Foxconn and Tata.

This large-scale shipment was part of Apple’s strategy to build up stock in the U.S. before higher tariffs kicked in. While the tariff rate on Chinese imports was raised to 125%, imports from India face a lower rate of 26%, which has now been paused for 90 days—excluding China.

One source familiar with the situation told Reuters, “Apple wanted to beat the tariff.”

To speed up the process, Apple requested Indian airport authorities to cut the time taken to clear customs at Chennai airport from 30 hours to just six hours. This special arrangement, described as a “green corridor,” is similar to what Apple already uses at some airports in China.