PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - A high-speed chase in the eastern Caribbean ended with U.S. authorities seizing bales of cocaine worth more than $1.5 million.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday that a 40-foot vessel heading toward Dominica sped off when crewmembers from the Port Canaveral-based cutter Vigilant tried to board Sept. 28. The boarding team's small boat chased the other vessel for more than two hours before stopping it in international waters.

The Coast Guard says it later recovered bales of cocaine worth more than $1.5 million that were dumped overboard by the vessel's crew during the chase.

Ten people aboard the vessel were transferred to Venezuelan officials.

The drugs were turned over Monday to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials in Key West.