Transporting Classifed info

I found this on quorm

If the police want to search a military official's car and the official states that he has classified material in the vehicle, what happens next?
The vast majority of classified material is sent from one place to another via registered mail. When I was retiring there was a move afoot to allow FedEx to transport classified material as well, but that has probably gone by the wayside as so much classified information can be transferred via SIPR-NET.

Even today with all the technology available, I’m sure there is the occasional need to hand-carry classified material from one place to another. When I was in Washington, my office was in Crystal City and I frequently carried classified material from our office to the Pentagon for meetings, briefings, etc. Normally, if I had to go to the Pentagon, I walked or took the Metro, but if I was carrying classified material I drove, parked in visitor’s parking, and walked into the building with everyone else. I showed my ID badge to the guard and he checked my briefcase. When he saw the sealed package with the material in it, I showed him my courier card. which looked like this:
The guard would wave me through and I would take the material to the designated office, collect the necessary signatures, and be on my way.

In Block 7, where it says geographical limits, my card said CONUS, which meant I could carry material throughout the Continental United States. Where it said Authorized Level, my card said TS-SCI, which meant I was authorized to carry material up to Top Secret - Compartmented Information, although I was never called upon to do it. If that issue came up, I would need to have a second equally cleared individual accompany me to maintain two-person control.

I was authorized to travel with the classified material in civilian clothes and in my personal vehicle. I transported the material in a briefcase that I carried to work daily and which I had purchased at Service Merchandise (There’s a blast from the past.) No fancy banker’s cables or anything like that. I was not authorized to carry a firearm at any time.

On several occasions, I flew
rcial with classified material in my briefcase, which I carried on the aircraft and put in the overhead bin like any other briefcase. I had only one issue that happened when I was flying in a commuter airplane from LA to Santa Barbara. The plane was small and required that everyone check their carry-ons. I explained to the flight attendant who was checking the bags. He took me to the pilot. I explained again and showed him my ID and courier card. The pilot had me moved to the front row of the aircraft and secured my briefcase in the cockpit, where I could see it the whole flight. This aircraft was a small Embraer with no cockpit door or curtain.

I go into all that to explain how the process worked in the mid-1990s. That out of the way, what would happen if I got pulled over and the officer wanted to search the car?

I would politely refuse consent for the search, as is my right under the Fourth Amendment. If he insisted, I would still be polite but explain the situation to him, show him my ID and Courier Card, and advise him to call his supervisor. If he refused and did the search anyway and insisted on opening the sealed package, I would again politely advise him to call his supervisor and that his opening of that package, having been told what was in it, would constitute a Federal Felony.

Properly wrapped classified material will have a plain outer wrapper and an opaque inner wrapper with the classification level of the material plainly visible. Seeing that wrapper will usually stop an unauthorized person from going any further.

If he opened the package, no matter if the stop ended with him letting me go or me in custody, my next call would be to my command to tell them what had happened. That call would bring the FBI down upon the head of that officer. The FBI likes to crawl up people’s butts with microscopes, which is not a pleasant experience. The key for me as the courier is to remain professional and polite at all times.

 

I would think that if Classified material was transported- it would be in a govt vehicle