The PSNI has announced it will take part in a new scheme to train 250 financial investigators across the the United Kingdom to identify and seize illegal wealth.
Police officers and government agencies will be taught how to follow money trails from those living extravagant and unexplained lifestyles back to a criminal source.
A new year-long course also offers advice on detecting money laundering, how to carry out meticulous cash investigations and work on confiscation processes.
The new offensive has been agreed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA).
PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said: "This additional training capability will enable us to probe deeper into the corners of the criminal underworld and make life much more uncomfortable for those individuals and gangs who live off the backs of their own communities.
"If someone has a lifestyle beyond their legitimate means, at whatever financial level, we are now getting the resources to be able to lift the stone and examine what they've been up to."
Representatives from Customs, the Inland Revenue and Environmental Health Service among other agencies are also expected to receive expert advice.
During the first half of this year the PSNI has made restraining orders for more than £5.4 million. These relate to cases in which individuals have been charged with criminal offences and have had their assets frozen.