BOSTON -- A former South Boston man who fled prosecution on a drug trafficking charge in 1988 was recently arrested on unrelated charges in Virginia, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

"We're quite ready to bring the case to trial, regardless of the time that's passed since his arrest," Conley said.

Elias Efremidis, 52, was arrested on Feb. 26, 1988, after about two kilograms of cocaine were found in his room at the Suisse Chalet in Dorchester. Packaged in dozens of white paper folds and a clear plastic bag, the cocaine was seized along with an electronic scale, a beeper, and about $4,000 in cash, Conley said.

Prosecutors recommended that Efremedis be held on $500,000 cash bail at his arraignment, but a judge set bail at $25,000. Efremidis posted bail and disappeared, Conley's office said.

Efremidis remained at large and was never apprehended. A Suffolk County grand jury later indicted him in absentia on charges of trafficking in more than 200 grams of cocaine and failing to appear after release on bail.

"The reason we seek such high bails in drug trafficking cases is the incentive to flee the charges," Conley said. "Mr. Efremidis learned the hard way that you can run but you can’t hide from this office."

Last month, police in Front Royal, Va., notified Suffolk County prosecutors that they believed an individual under investigation might be the one same man sought in the 1988 Boston case. Prosecutors said the case was still viable and they would rendite Efremidis to Massachusetts.

Efremidis will be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court when he returns to Massachusetts.