Layover in Panama City, Panama

We are able to use frequent flyer miles to fly business on Copa Airlines to Lima, Peru, and will have a 15-hour layover in Panama City, Panama. We plan to leave the airport to spend the night at a nearby hotel, then catch our morning flight to continue the trip.

What I don't know is whether we will need to pick up our checked luggage when we leave the Panama City airport, or whether we can have it checked through to Lima when we leave IAD and it will remain at the airport under the control of Copa. I assume we will need to go through immigration and customs when we leave the airport.

I already had to contact Copa on another issue, and thought I would ask for advice here before contacting them again.

We passed through Panama City airport twice this past March. Both were international arrivals.

Both times we went through customs and security. Our bags were scanned. The first time was brutal. We were arriving from South America and it seemed that there were many international arrivals at the same time-Europe, NA and SA ( 5PM arrival) It took us an hour to get through. The lineups snaked into and arround the baggage carousel area. It was a zoo but the chaos was well organized. Two/three days before Carnival.

The second time we came arrived from Costa Rica on 3PM arrival. We zoomed through in about 10 minutes flat. Bags scanned, passports stamped. Fingerprints (electronic of course) as well.

Both times we only had the same carry on bags.