An armed thug was caught on video handing a little girl a packet of potato chips — not out of generosity, but to keep her from crying as his cohorts held up her mom.

The three shoplifters barged into a store in the city of San Miguel de Tucuman in northern Argentina, where they threatened the owner with a gun, Central European News reported.

The young mother and her 7-year-old daughter stepped aside during the robbery before the creeps targeted the woman, who handed over her mobile phone and purse while her girl was distracted by the snack.

“The little girl started to cry and they didn’t want to attract any attention, so they gave her the crisps to shut her up so that they could get away without a fuss,” police spokesman Leal Saldivar said.

One of the robbers is then seen stuffing some looted candy into his pockets before the three take off.

There are more armed robberies in Argentina per capita than anywhere else in the world. In 2011, there were 973 robberies per each 100,000 inhabitants in the country, according to the UN.