Yellowknife RCMP are warning high school students about an Edmonton-based gang, the Crazy Dragons, that is known to recruit young people to sell drugs.

It may have come to the city to fill a void created in the local crack and cocaine trade as the result of Project Gunship, a 2005 major police drug sting that led to 20 people being arrested.

The Crazy Dragons have the potential to have a damaging effect on local youth, Staff Sgt. Larry O'Brien told CBC News on Monday.

"As we've learned from our counterparts in Alberta, they like to hang around the high schools, they befriend the students there, invite them to parties, get them involved in some drug usage and then get them involved in selling drugs," he said.

"Our enforcement guys are, for the most part, aware of who these individuals are, and they keep an eye on them and they're able to target them when they see them around town."

O'Brien said once the gangs have obtained a foothold in a community, they have other high school students carry out the recruiting, making it more difficult for police to monitor.

RCMP plan to hold a town hall meeting this summer to discuss the issue, as well as meet with local schools in September to develop a strategy to address the gang's presence.

The Crazy Dragons also made inroads into Saskatchewan in 2005, according to RCMP there, after having been in Edmonton and Calgary for more than a decade.

Initially, most members were young Asian men, but in recent years, Caucasians and young women were getting involved, said Sasketchawan RCMP.