Police in eastern China’s Jiangsu province have sniffed out a wanted fugitive thanks to his affinity for hot pot — a particularly pungent soup dish.

The man, surnamed Guo, is suspected of fraud and extortion and had been on the lam in the city of Nantong since police there cracked down on gang-related activity in late May, local media reported Tuesday. After months of searching, authorities located Guo’s apartment building but had not determined which unit he was living in. They noted that he went to a local market on Saturday afternoon and bought ingredients for hot pot — how they learned this was not disclosed in the report — and then went door to door that evening, following their noses to the distinctively savory aroma.

In the past few years, several fugitives in China have been caught in unconventional ways. In August 2017, over two dozen criminal suspects were identified by facial-recognition cameras at the Qingdao International Beer Festival in the eastern Shandong province. Beginning in April of last year, at least three fugitives were caught in similar fashion at separate concerts for Hong Kong pop star Jacky Cheung. And most recently, a murder suspect was nabbed by police in the eastern Fujian province in August after attempting to use his dead girlfriend’s face to apply for a loan. (Images: 江苏新闻 on WeChat & VCG)