A man accused of making an explosive device that was found in a Queensland shopping centre car park on Monday has been remanded in custody.

Cvjetin Ivkovic did not appear in Ipswich Magistrates Court on Tuesday after he was charged with 17 offences, including four counts of manufacturing an explosive device.

The 37-year-old was remanded in custody until his next court appearance on April 20.

Christine Michelle Scifleet, who was allegedly with Mr Ivkovic at the Redbank Plains shopping centre, also had her matter mentioned but did not appear in court.

The 31-year-old is facing seven charges relating to theft, fraud and forgery, but not explosive charges.

She was remanded in custody until Wednesday to allow her time to arrange legal representation.

A device was detected after Ipswich City Council staff monitoring CCTV footage early on Monday morning spotted two people allegedly acting suspiciously in a carpark at Redbank Plaza, west of Brisbane.

The bomb squad was called in and a 100-metre exclusion zone put in place around the car.

Police spent the day trawling through the couple’s social media accounts after they were taken into custody at the scene.

Officers searched a 37-year-old Camira man’s property on Monday afternoon and found two more explosive devices, which were dismantled by specialist police.

Police said they also uncovered a firearm and dangerous drugs.

Senior Sergeant Gareth James said the device was hidden inside a cardboard box.

“At this stage all I can say is it was a fairly large glass jar which contained a substance,” he said.

“Not fertiliser, there was a liquid in it of an explosive nature which also had a few other components which I won’t go into.”

Police are on high alert ahead of the Commonwealth Games which begin on Wednesday on the Gold Coast.

-ABC