Six years ago, on a July Tuesday in Los Angeles, members of MS-13’s downtown cell got into a fight with a rival gang. “Porky,” its leader, was none too pleased.

As the “shot-caller” for the Centrales cell, Porky had a lot of responsibilities. He managed its drug trafficking, oversaw the collection of extortion payments, and represented the group at the regular leadership meetings with his counterparts from MS-13’s 20 other L.A. cells.