Police in New York have seized $50m (€45m) of heroin hidden in a car - the largest drugs bust in the city's history.

The 70kg haul, smuggled from Mexico, was found in hidden compartments under the floor of a Chevrolet Suburban in a wealthy area of the Bronx.

Special narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan said: "This load was so large it carried the potential of supplying a dose of heroin to every man, woman and child in New York City."

The heroin was found in 1kg packages - labelled "Rolex" - near top private school Horace Mann, and was America's fourth largest drugs seizure.

Federal agents also found US$2m (€1.79m) in cash under the floorboards of a nearby apartment, and a firearm at a second property.

Two suspects - Jose Mercedes and Yenci Cruz Francisco - were arrested and charged with trafficking and criminal possession. Both were denied bail.

Police using wiretaps heard the defendants were expecting a large shipment over the weekend, it is claimed.

"The bull's eye for drug traffickers"

They followed them as they drove in two cars to an industrial park in Montville, New Jersey, and then to a residential part of the Bronx.

A sniffer dog detected drugs inside the SUV, and the suspects gave police instructions on how to open the secret compartments in the vehicle, officers said.

Two other suspects, including Mercedes' son Jose, were arrested in November last year.

US officials said their alleged smuggling ring supplied users throughout New York City, as well as the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

They received monthly shipments of heroin from suppliers in Culican, Mexico, an area controlled by the Sinaloa Cartel, they added.

DEA special agent James Hunt said it proved New York was "the bull's eye for drug traffickers".

Officials have warned of a growing heroin epidemic in the US.

Heroin overdose deaths soared by 45% between 2006 and 2010, with the amount of heroin seized on the Mexican border quadrupling from 2008 to 2012.