LANSING -- The 50-year-old man arrested in connection with a major methamphetamine seizure at Lansing remains in the Mower County Jail.

The suspect has not yet made his first appearance in court, according to a Mower County Attorney's spokesperson.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Minnesota Attorney General's Office agents remain in Austin today to question the suspect.

The suspect, who was alone in the Lansing mobile home, was captured, while showering Wednesday afternoon.

Overnight Thursday, the Mower County Sheriff's Office received a tip that another suspected wanted in connection with the case had returned to the trailer.

"But he was gone by the time we got there," said Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi.

More than $100,000 in drugs and $4,000 in cash were found in a mobile home once occupied by dozens of people and now described as a "pig pen" by officers.

Rottweilers continued to roam the property and inside the trailer, police said.

On Wednesday, the suspect gave authorities a first and last name when he was arrested at the trailer.

However, the use of only one last name made authorities immediately suspicious because they said the suspect is from a Latin American country. Usually residents of Latin American countries have more than one last name, Amazi said.

"Then, he also told us he had served time in Texas for murder and we became more suspicious," Amazi said.

No one by the name he gave was arrested for murder in Texas, she said.

The trailer is located at 53907 265th St. in the southwest corner of the village of Lansing near railroad tracks. It has been the subject of complaints about alleged unsanitary conditions for more than six months. Junked or abandoned cars are parked all around the trailer, police said.

Amazi said officers, who entered the trailer described it as a "pig pen."

The Austin Police Department's animal control officer, Jim Dugan, joined the raiding party because of the number of adult dogs and puppies a the scene.

The drugs were found "stashed all over the place," according to Amazi. Wrapped in plastic bags, the methamphetamine drugs were found hidden in the front yard of the mobile home, the gas tank of a Ford Explorer SUV and behind a mirror in a bedroom, she said.

The "rock" or solid piece of methamphetamine drugs was found by Amazi and her canine partner, Tia, hidden in a Kleenex box in a bedroom.

Handguns were also found in the residence hidden under the mattress on a bed, Amazi said.

Amazi said canine units at the scene were invaluable in finding some of the drugs, including the marijuana hidden in the trailer.

Two handguns were also found, according to police reports.

In addition to the mobile home, a camper trailer was parked at the property, plus many vehicles. The property also contained a garage/storage building.

Amazi said authorities have verified that several Latin American adults and children lived on the property.

They are searching for at least one other adult male suspect who lived there.

The quantity of drugs found at the scene was described by Amazi as "one of the largest methamphetamine seizures ever made and possibly the largest" in Mower County.

For some time, Austin police have believed there were local outlets for creating some of the false identifications that have surfaced so often in the city when arrests are made.

Seized in the Wednesday afternoon raid was equipment used in the manufacturing of false identifications, according to Amazi.

In addition to the state agents and Mower County Sheriff's Office, officers from the Austin, Owatonna and Albert Lea police departments assisted in the raid.

In all, 15 officers swarmed over the trailer home at the time of the raid Wednesday.

Amazi said the Wednesday events culminated a lengthy investigation and added, "The investigation is ongoing."

Lee Bonorden can be reached at 434-2232 or by e-mail at lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com