Saudi Arabia executed four people from the same family Monday for attempting to smuggle "large quantities" of hashish into the kingdom, officials and a rights group said, according to Reuters.

The Interior Ministry said they were executed in southern Najran province near Yemen after they were found guilty by three courts, including an appeals court, Reuters reported.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law and applies the death penalty on a number of crimes, such as murder, rape and drug smuggling, according to Reuters. Though not common, crimes of apostasy and witchcraft can carry death sentences.

Amnesty International urged Saudi authorities to halt what it said is a "disturbing" surge in executions, with 17 people executed in the past two weeks, Reuters reported.

The group said the four men executed Monday were two sets of brothers from the same family, according to Reuters.

The rights group said the four were put to death despite desperate last-minute efforts from family members to alert Amnesty International and others to allegations the men had also been tortured during interrogation, including with beatings and sleep deprivation, in order to extract confessions used against them in trial, Reuters reported.

Amnesty International said it tried to seek further information on the case, but within hours their team in Saudi Arabia was informed that the family of the four men had received a phone call from Interior Ministry officials warning them to stop contacting the rights group, according to Reuters.

In a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, the Interior Ministry said King Abdullah is "keen on combating narcotics due to their great harm to individuals and the society," Reuters reported. Saudi Arabia warns all visitors on its visa forms that drug trafficking is a crime punishable by execution.