In 0 BBY (3277 LY), Han Solo, a freighter captain, was hired by Jabba Desilijic Tiure (commonly known as “Jabba the Hutt”) to transport a shipment of the drug known as “spice.” Although spice was illegal in the Galactic Empire, its trade was permitted in the Outer Rim Territories. During transport, Solo’s ship, the Millennium Falcon, was intercepted by an Imperial starship. Solo, fearing boarding and arrest, dumped the shipment.

Having been commissioned by Jabba to deliver the shipment intact, and having unnecessarily dumped it despite its legal status in the Outer Rim Territories, Solo was legally required to reimburse Jabba for the value of the shipment. He did not do so. Jabba then issued an order to all of the bounty hunters in his employ to find and apprehend Solo to hold him accountable for this inexcusable destruction of valuable property.

Greedo, one of Jabba’s most trusted agents, tracked Solo to Chalmun’s Cantina in the city of Mos Isley on Tatooine. He approached Solo in a booth at the Cantina. Greedo was armed with a blaster, as authorized by his various recovery certifications.

Holding Solo at gunpoint, Greedo demanded that Solo either pay the money he owed to Jabba, be taken into custody, or, as an alternative, turn over the Millennium Falcon as restitution. Solo refused and, before Greedo could take any further action, he was shot at short range by the blaster that Solo concealed under the table.

Solo immediately left the cantina. Not content with the destruction of Jabba’s spice shipment hanging over his head, he chose to add murder to his list of crimes. He has never been brought to justice for his crimes.