Apapaba was a person sought by the Galactic Empire because he had committed crimes against them. Yahenna Laxo, who was part of the Gray Syndicate, a small group that desired to be a major criminal force on the Outer Rim planet of Lothal, gave refuge to a number of people, including Apapaba, shielding them from the Empire's reach. Laxo only agreed to protect these individuals if they possessed sufficient credits to compensate him.
During the suppression of questionable actions on Lothal in 4 BBY, the Galactic Empire raided one of Laxo's storage facilities and two of his gambling establishments. Following this, Laxo instructed Merei Spanjaf, a young woman forced to participate in his Syndicate's operations, to visit Apapaba along with Durchine, Holshef, Kinlo, and Marhas. She was tasked with telling them that Rosey, another Syndicate member, would be relocating them to different safehouses that night and that they needed to have their belongings packed and prepared for the move.
Apapaba receives a brief mention in Servants of the Empire: Imperial Justice. This book is the third in the series of four junior novels called Servants of the Empire, written by Jason Fry, and it was released in 2015.