The villages of Aitiana, Sudhar, Burjlittan and Noorpura in Punjab are rife with tales of the return of their young men.
They return from Canada and the U.S. with great riches to buy thousands of acres of land, flashy cars and build huge mansions.
Their homecoming is also sending ripples of unrest through the villages of Punjab.
Now Indian police are pursuing reports that Non-Resident Indians who have made fortunes from the drug trade in North America are returning home to seek refuge and spend their ill-gotten gains.
One of them was publicly identified as 25-year-old Randhir Singh alias Dhira from Brampton, Ontario.
Dhira and his parents from the village of Aitiana immigrated to Canada four years ago.
According to the Indian Express newspaper, Dhira was arrested by U.S. authorities after they found him with a truck load of drugs.
His cronies, the newspaper said, have now returned to their villages and have become that talk of the town in Ludhiana.
“The lavish lifestyles of some these youths have become the talk of the villages around the city,“ the newspaper said.
Dhira's cousin, Manjeet Singh confirmed his arrest, but asserted that Dhira had nothing to do with the drug cartel.
"Unfortunately, on that fateful day one of Dhira's friends requested him to drive a truck to the US, for he had to leave for India. The truck broke down on the way and while Dhira was standing guard, he was picked by the US police. Our family in Canada is trying their best to get his name cleared," Manjeet was quoted as saying in local media.
Senior Superintendent of Police in the Jagraon district, Rajiv Ahir said: "Usually we do get reports of such developments formally or informally, but then I have not come across any such thing in my area till now."
But villagers who live around the industrial city of Ludhiana have another tale to tell.
“The local boys, who have dreams of making millions abroad, are easily recruited as carriers,“ said one villager, who did not want his name used fearing retribution.
He told Indian media that the word in his village is that a local truck driver or farmer can make thousands of dollars crossing the U.S.-Canada border on just one trip.
"In fact, a large number of women and young girls are also involved in the criminal activities," said the villager.
This month, police in the Ropar district of Punjab busted a Canadian citizen for running a brothel that was selling the services of Russian and Indian girls for between C$50 and $130.
The suspect was identified as 26-year-old Mandeep Singh.
He was allegedly operating using locals in the cities of Mohali and Chandigarh to spread the word about his brothel.
The area around Dosanjh Kalan in Punjab, which produced former B.C. premier Ujjal Dosanjh is also home to some of British-Columbia's top Indo-Canadian gangsters.
They include Sukhvinder Singh Dosanjh aka Bicky the alleged leader of an Indo-Canadian gang called the Independent Soldiers. Sukhvinder was killed in a car crash in Vancouver recently.
His brother Paul Dosanjh was shot dead in March 2004 after surviving another attempt on his life one year earlier.
Another pair from the area is Ron and Jimmy Dosanjh, considered the frontrunners in the Indo-Canadian drug trade. They were assassinated in separate hits in 1994 and 1995 allegedly organized by another self-proclaimed thug Bindy Johal.
Johal was also murdered.
Some members of B.C.'s Indo-Canadian community speak quietly of the riches that have flowed back to the area in and around the Dosanjh village.
“It is not only big houses and flashy cars, some of the money has gone into building roads, improving temples etc,“ said an Indo-Canadian businessman from the area.
The RCMP estimates that there are about 30 to 40 separate Indo-Canadian gangs in British-Columbia“s Lower Mainland, each made up of about three or four key members and maybe a dozen associates.
They are responsible for many of the 80 murders of Indo-Canadian gangsters in a vicious cycle of killing and revenge that dates back a decade.
Police investigators have compared Indo-Canadian gangsters in British-Columbia to the inner-city street gangs in California and groups in Britain's South Asian community which go around with names like 'Santa Clara Punjabi Boys', 'Shera Punjab' and 'Holy Smokers.'
The RCMP, which only a few years ago described Indo-Canadian gangs as unsophisticated and disorganized, have now ranked them as the third largest organized crime threat in B.C. after outlaw bikers and Asian triads.
