A Canadian businessman returned to Canada Thursday after a three-and-a-half-year stay in a Mexican jail, after a judge finally cleared him of all charges.

Pavel Kulisek was reunited with his family at Vancouver International Airport Thursday.

"For three-and-a-half years, I could see just concrete.... When I came to Vancouver, we were driving and I saw the green stuff all around me -- it was just like you are in heaven," the married father of two told CTV British Columbia.

"I kissed the earth in the airport. I went down on my knees."

In 2007, Kulisek moved his family to Mexico to go on an extended vacation in a motor home. Eventually, they ended up in the quiet town of Los Barriles, where Kulisek was introduced to a fellow dirt bike enthusiast named Carlos Herrera.

In March 2008, and Kulisek was at a hot dog stand having a bite with Herrera, when Mexican police swooped in and arrested both men.

Police alleged that Herrera was actually Gustavo Rivera Herrera, suspected of being one of the top men in Tijuana's lucrative drug trade.

Kulisek was accused of being a member of the drug cartel and participating in drug trafficking. But the Canadian said he wasn't aware of Herrera's true identity and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In the hours after the arrest, Kulisek's wife had no idea where her husband was, and only found out the next day.

"I was shocked," Jirina Kulisek told CTV's W5 earlier this year. "I just had no idea."

Despite never having been in trouble with the law before, Kulisek languished in jail for three-and-a-half years on what he said were very flimsy charges. There were even suggestions that he was the victim of fabricated evidence, which may have been created by corrupt police and prosecutors.

Kulisek was limited to seven minutes a week of contact with his family, via the phone, during his time in jail.

But on Thursday, he was back in Canada.

Kukisek thanked his wife and his supporters.

"My wife, she is the strongest wife in the world," he said.

"There are so many people from the whole of Canada who supported us and believed that we are innocent and we are a good family. Thank you very much."

The Kuliseks said they had no immediate plans, except to spend some time together and relax.

"We hope to take the family on a camping trip," Jirina said.

The family has asked for their privacy.