New Zealand fugitive Nai Yin Xue was tied up with his own clothes by members of the Chinese community where he was hiding in America, the head of the local police district said.

Marc Johnson, the chief of police from Chamblee, a suburb of Atlanta in the US state of Georgia, said police received a call earlier on Friday from a local apartment complex where six people recognised Xue from a picture in a local Chinese newspaper.

Xue is suspected of murdering his wife in New Zealand.

Mr Johnson said the group of five males and one female at the apartment complex "took matters into their own hands".

They tied Xue's legs up with his trousers and bound his hands with his belt while they waited for police to arrive.

Mr Johnson said there was no evidence that Xue had been living at the apartment.

"We're not certain why he was there. He had been seen recently periodically coming and going, but nobody has said he was living with them," he told Fairfax News Network.

Mr Johnson said police were reasonably sure they had Nai Yin Xue, who is suspected of murdering his wife, Anan Liu, in Auckland last September and stuffing her body in the boot of a car.

He is also suspected of dumping his three-year-old daughter, Qian Xun Xue, who became affectionately known as Pumpkin, at a Melbourne train station before fleeing to Los Angeles and disappearing.

"He had his New Zealand driver's licence in his wallet and when one of the officers pointed to his picture in the newspaper article, he acknowledged as far as we can tell that yes, that's him," he said.

Mr Johnson said Xue was in police custody for a couple of hours and had now been taken to the local county jail for a longer period.

"US Marshals have indicated it will take them a couple of days to actually take custody of him from there," he said.

Xue, 53, has been charged with being a fugitive and for being wanted in New Zealand.

He is expected to be deported back to New Zealand.