Cash, cars, houses and shares have been seized by forces

Forces across Yorkshire, Durham, Northumbria and Cleveland are working together to seize criminal assets which will be invested in crime prevention.

Since January 2004 the regional asset recovery team has seized assets and cash worth �4m. They have also frozen a further �15m of assets.

Items recovered include shares in a plane and a �125,000 Bentley Arnage.

Suitcase find

Operation Payback aims to make sure criminals do not benefit but that the money is used to tackle crime.

The team says it has had a number of recent successes that will be highlighted during the initiative.

Humberside Police was granted a confiscation order following the conviction of a drug dealer which forced him to hand over his share of a Luscombe 8A fixed winger aircraft.

Following a money laundering operation in Doncaster, officers seized a Mercedes S Class and a Bentley Arnage.

And more than �300,000 was found hidden in two suitcases under the bed of a suspect in Northumbria.