Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) and other regional trading centres have long been at the centre of the narcotics trade’s financial links to the world’s number one opium producer, Afghanistan. According to international organisations, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body set up to combat money laundering, drug money is being laundered in jurisdictions such as the UAE, and opiates traded through the most open trade points – Dubai among them. The UAE – a stopover point for regional air passenger traffic – is also identified as a transit point for Asian cocaine.