El Salvador Helicopter Crash Kills Alleged Embezzler and Police Chief

President Nayib Bukele says the crash cannot be considered a ’simple accident' and asks for international help in investigating it.

Manuel Coto Barrientos (C)—who later died in a helicopter crash—is detained by police, in Choluteca, Honduras, on Sept. 8, 2024. Policia Nacional/Reuters

A military helicopter that was taking a former credit union manager, who was suspected of embezzling $35 million, back to El Salvador crashed on Sept. 8 on its way from neighboring Honduras.

The head of El Salvador’s police forces, Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, was killed along with Manuel Coto Barrientos, the manager of the Santa Victoria cooperative bank (Cosavi), whom Chicas was escorting back from Honduras after he was arrested there last week.