Mexican authorities are searching for migrants they believe have been kidnapped in north Mexico.

Police have said they believe at least 17 migrants have gone missing.

It is believed human traffickers are responsible for the lost people, who were supposedly trying to get across the border into the United States.

Officials have revealed that two migrants who were later freed reported the abduction on Wednesday.

One of the captives said he had been bound hand and foot during his captivity, at which time the traffickers tried to force him to give out the telephone numbers of relatives who could pay a ransom for his release.

The kidnappings have come only one week after the bodies of another 72 Central and South American abducted migrants were found on a ranch in northern Mexico.

In that case, 58 men and 14 women were killed by the Zetas drug gang because they refused to take drugs across the border.