The Iotians are from the planet Sigma Iotia II. It is approximately 100 light-years away from Earth.
The inhabitants are highly intelligent and quite naďve. The planet was first contacted by the U.S.S. Horizon in 2168. The crew left behind a book and the entire civilization lived by the book.
The Prime Directive wasn’t instituted until after that visit. The entire Iotian society was changed when the book was left behind. The book was “Chicago Mobs of the Twenties”.
Other books were left behind that gave the Iotians the knowledge to build radios, telephones, and cars. The society was quite violent.
The planet was contacted later on by the U.S.S. Enterprise in 2268. It was at this time when Starfleet found out that Iotians had been living their lives by the book.
The planet was ran by a group of gangsters. Each boss had his own territory to run. There was several bosses. Violence ran amok on the streets of the planet.
All of the citizens were using to the violence and each of them carried their own weapons for protection.
Captain James T. Kirk tried to put things right and told the gangster boss Bela Oxmyx that the Federation would be back to its share of the money every 40 years.