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They use this strap for getting underneath the bed because we've found shanks there and had to fish them out. >> success rate, that's hard to say. sometimes it goes in spurts. you know, we might find a lot of shanks one month and the next six months might not find any. >> this is numerous contraband we've found throughout the years here at the penitentiary. this is a zip gun. stick a .410 shell in there. we have a screw in there. that will ignite your shell. a shank made out of a pen barrel and a nail. these are pretty nonlethal, but they can put your eye out. this is made out of a plastic com...

What you need to do. >> "lockup" crews are regularly exposed to the tools of a deadly trade. >> every prison we film in, there's always a shank museum, a place where the authorities display all of the weapons that are confiscated by staff. homemade weapons the inmates have made from bed springs or melted down plastic. they're truly ingenious but deadly as well. >> at california's san quentin state prison, we saw how sophisticated some inmate weaponry can be. this homemade pistol is known as a zip gun. >> this portion is filled with groundup matchups. >> the two holes here, the inmate inserts a...

And as you can see, it's pretty rigid. this inmate lodged a metal screw for the tip. when the officer or inmate walks by the cell, the spear is thrust out. >> you wouldn't think that a rolled up newspaper or magazine would be -- make that good of a handle and it does. very effective. >> this is known as a zip gun. this portion of the zip gun is filled with match heads, ground-up match heads. a plunger is used to push shrapnel, pieces of metal, ground up zippers, packs it down. when his target walks by, the inmate would light those two fuses. basically what you have is a double-barreled shotgun...

A shank made out of a pen barrel and a nail. these are nonlethal but they put your eye out. this is made out of a plastic comb. just a piece of plastic. a turkey leg bone. certain cell houses are not allowed to have chicken bones or rib bones because they can do this with them. these are the dangerous ones here. the ones you don't really see. when a guy carries something like this, he means business. he wants to hide it. very sharp, very pointed. this is what we'd call a .22 zip gun. shoots a .22 round. put your bullet in there. screw it down until it's tight. made in one of the shops. if 'guy...

C.e.r.t. is on the front lines of that effort. >> we try to look for contraband, anything in their cell they are not allowed to have. anything from matches to guns. they try to go every square inch they can. >> we take this camera and stick it down the conduits here and check down there for weapons. where they hide them. or behind this plate here. i was looking behind these brackets. up underneath because we found weapons laying up underneath there. they use this strap for getting underneath the bed, because we've found shanks there and had to fish them out. >> success rate, that's hard to say...