RIYADH: As part of a regional initiative to step up war on drugs, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Saudi Arabia, announced plans here yesterday to set up a major center to combat drug trafficking. This center will help to map out future strategies for checking the drug trade, prevent transactions of dirty money, and foil drug trafficking attempts in the Gulf region. “This regional center, called Gulf Center for Criminal Intelligence, is being set up with the help of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),” said a statement released by the GCC General Secretariat. The center, it said, “would improve co-operation among the member states by exchange of information on drug trafficking.”