The Baneans once coexisted on their planet with a race known as the Numiri, who eventually left the planet and settled on another world. The two races would later become involved in a war until at least 2371, when USS Voyager visited the Banea homeworld. Although murders were once punished by lethal injection, medical advances led to the development of a technique that allowed memory engrams of a murder victim to be implanted within the brain of the murderer, thus forcing the criminal to see the crime through the victims eyes for the rest of his life, usually in increments of fourteen hours. Although generally humanoid in external appearance, the Banea heart is located in the intercostal space between the 8th and 9th ribs on the left-hand side of the chest.
In 2371 USS Voyager visited this planet to seek technical assistance for a damaged component. Not wanting to involve Voyager in the Banea's war with their neighbors the Numiri, who once lived on the Banea homeworld, Voyager dispatched a shuttlecraft to the planet. When the shuttle returned it was learned that Lieutenant Paris had been tried and convicted of the murder of a Banea scientist and was incarcerated on the planet. Risking attack by Numiri patrols, Captain Janeway entered orbit of the planet. In time it was proven that Paris was innocent of the crime, which had actually been committed by a disguised Numiri agent.